Biden Holds 52-Point Lead over Trump Among College Students. But Will They Vote?

August 24, 2020 Topic: Politics Blog Brand: 2020 Election Tags: 2020 ElectionJoe BidenDonald TrumpPollPolitics

Biden Holds 52-Point Lead over Trump Among College Students. But Will They Vote?

Most students -- nearly 7 in 10 -- said they are “absolutely certain” that they will vote in the upcoming election, with female college students dominating the response over their male counterparts by a margin of 10 points.

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden holds a massive 52-point lead over President Donald Trump among full-time college students, according to a new poll released Monday.

Seventy percent of college students said they would vote for Biden, and 18 percent said they’d back Trump. Even though the pool of participants are more likely to vote for Biden, enthusiasm is low for both of the major-party candidates, according to a poll conducted by the Knight Foundation.

Only 49 percent of college students said they have a favorable impression of Biden, with 51 percent having an unfavorable impression. For Trump, 19 percent claim to have a favorable impression, and 81 percent said they had an unfavorable impression of the president.

Most students -- nearly 7 in 10 -- said they are “absolutely certain” that they will vote in the upcoming election, with female college students dominating the response over their male counterparts by a margin of 10 points. The poll found that Democratic college students are more likely to be “absolutely certain” they will vote over Republicans come November, with 81 percent of Democrats, followed by 74 percent of Republicans and 63 percent of Independents.

Despite the expressed certainty in voting in the upcoming election, about one in three college students said they are less certain they will vote. Actual voting rates for the college student voter have been much lower than predicted, as less than half of all students -- 48 percent -- casted a ballot in the 2016 election, the Knight Foundation noted.

The Foundation said the poll results follow a similar survey conducted earlier in the year that found eligible citizens ages 18 to 24 -- many of whom were registered or who had voted in a past election -- were less interested in voting in the 2020 presidential election than chronic nonvoters. But, this previous survey was released before the coronavirus pandemic that has forced colleges to close down campuses and before the murder of George Floyd that caused social and political unrest across the country.

College students also said they are likely to “doubt the results of the presidential election.” Some students are hesitant to trust the results because of problems at polling places such as long lines or broken machines, foreign interference, the election winner losing the popular vote, low voter turnout or if voters cast ballots by mail.

Even though there is some doubt among college students in terms of voting by mail, 63 percent of Democratic students say they’d prefer to vote by mail or absentee, with 31 percent of Republican students saying the same. Nearly 39 percent of all students said they plan to vote in person.

The Knight Foundation commissioned College Pulse to issue the national poll, which was conducted from Aug. 9 to 12, representing a pool of 4,000 full-time college students currently enrolled in four-year degree programs. The poll was conducted by using the College Pulse mobile app and web portal and is claimed to be nationally representative. 

Rachel Bucchino is a reporter at the National Interest. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, U.S. News & World Report and The Hill.