Taking the Pledge: Kean Places in NJ Ballot Bowl

By Harmony Sanchez | Published by December 26, 2021

Every Election Day, millions of Americans head to the polls to exercise their right to vote and many young adults around the country still have yet to do the same. This year, in an effort to increase voter engagement, Kean University entered and placed second in the 2021 NJ Ballot Bowl.

As a joint effort of the New Jersey Department of State and the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, the Ballet Bowl was created as a competition between NJ colleges to promote civic engagement through voting.

“Young voters have an important role to play in our elections. We are proud that New Jersey recorded the highest youth voter turnout in the nation in 2020. We look forward to seeing what our Ballot Bowl teams do this fall to bring more young voters into our democracy,” said Secretary of State Tahesha Way for NJ’s State Website.

Kean came out in first place during the 2020 Ballot Bowl. This year, however, the rules were a bit different. In previous years, the Ballot Bowl based winners off only the number of voter registrations. This time, however, pledges to vote were also counted in the competition.

The race began earlier this September with a total of 25 NJ universities participating in the Ballot Bowl, including Montclair State University, Rowan University, Rutgers University, and William Paterson University.

Throughout the month of November at Kean, volunteers canvased around campus to get pledges for students. Spearheaded by the Service Department at Kean’s Center for Leadership and Service, tabling was also done to collect voter registrations from students.

“College students are told time and time again that this is the time for them to prepare for their future. Sometimes they forget that even if they are not going into a career with politics, they will still be affected by the choices of the politicians that are elected,” said Delia Latini, a Junior at Kean University.

According to Kean’s National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE) Report by Tufts University, only 45% of 18-21-year-olds at Kean voted in 2016. By 2020, the voting rate at Kean increased to 62%

“The NJ Ballot Bowl gives students a chance to learn a little more about the importance of voting,” Latini said. “Friendly competitions are also a great way to encourage people to participate.”

On Tuesday, November 9th the ALL-IN Campus Democracy Challenge hosted their annual awards ceremony to recognize and award the universities in participation. The ceremony featured remarks by Kim Wyman, Washington’s Secretary of State, and Veronica Degraffenried, Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Commonwealth.

At the ceremony, Kean was awarded the Silver Seal given to campuses with 60-69% voter participation. The Kean Cougar Mascot and representatives from the Center for Leadership and Service were also in attendance to accept Kean’s second-place award for the 2021 NJ Ballot Bowl.

Next year, the Center for Leadership and Service hopes to continue having Kean University participate in the NJ Ballot Bowl with the goal of increasing voter engagement.

---