Voter turnout at the University of Wisconsin has hit a record high following the first day of early voting Tuesday, March 18. On the ballot are important decisions such as the Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates, candidates for the State Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State of Wisconsin referendum question on Voter IDs.

According to District 8 Alder MGR Govindarajan, 2453 votes were counted citywide, the highest number of early votes in Madison for a spring election. Additionally, the second highest voting location was Memorial Union with 348 votes.

Since the last Supreme Court Primary Election in 2023, Wisconsin has seen a rise in voter turnout among college students. A trend that has even been seen nationwide, according to MGR.

“When Justice Janet Protasiewicz was elected two years ago, we saw a crazy amount of students go out and vote,” said MGR. “She won with 60% of the vote in Wisconsin and 90% on campus.”

This trend continued into 2024 when another large turnout of students exercised their right to vote, according to MGR. Students are voting now more than ever due to multiple factors, including the convenience of the voting locations on campus and specific organizations encouraging students to vote, MGR said.

“The easier you make voting, the more accessible you make voting, the more people will be voting,” MGR said. “I think that’s the big reason why we’re seeing such a high turnout on campus right now.”

Those 2453 early votes account for more votes than the city of Milwaukee, which is almost twice the size of Madison, according to MGR.

Students have not only shown up to vote early out of convenience but also because of the important decisions that could be made in the spring election, according to MGR.

“Hopefully, we can be the generation of change in politics,” MGR said.“I think so many people are just fed up with how there has not been a lot of progress and it seems like only those who already have so much power have been forwarding it for themselves.”