Ballot Bowl prompts CSULB students to register to vote, get informed and be counted

Election Day – Nov. 5 – is almost here and The Beach is doing its part to help students participate as informed voters who are making their choices matter at the federal, state and local levels.

“There are 40,000 of them, and if every one of them was registered, they’d have quite an impact,” said Ricki Burgener, director of university partnerships and civic engagement.

Cal State Long Beach is participating in the California University and College Ballot Bowl, a contest among the Golden State’s higher education providers to find out who can do the most to encourage collegians to become registered voters. As the election approaches, Beach staffers and student government will be working together to drive registration tallies upward and, ideally, emerge triumphant at the conclusion of this year’s Ballot Bowl.

Students – and anyone else who is eligible – can register to vote online by going to the California Secretary of State’s registration portal. Already registered voters can access the same website to verify their correct information, such as one’s address or political party membership, on file, Burgener said.

The campus’ Ballot Bowl strategy calls for student government representatives, staff and community volunteers to set up tables during events like the Weekly Farmers Markets, which take place every Tuesday along Friendship Walk, and the CSULB 75th Anniversary Kickoff Concert, scheduled for Sept. 28 outside Walter Pyramid.

Associated Students, Inc. President Nikki Majidi said she spent time last spring speaking with students who were interested in the March 2024 Presidential Primary Election but may not have had all the information they needed to vote. For example, Majidi recalled telling students who had registered elsewhere before moving to Long Beach for classes know that they could re-register at their new address.

Students working at informational tables do not advocate for candidates or positions but can build awareness of the full scope of electoral contests and ballot measures going before local voters. Encouraging students to pay attention to down ballot races, not just the presidential contest, is a shared goal for Burgener and Majidi.

“You can vote for someone who is going to change roads in Long Beach, the same ones you drive on every day,” Majidi said.  

Accordingly, Ballot Bowl plans here include a forum between candidates in the race to represent Long Beach’s 4th City Council District. The event is set for 6:30 p.m. Oct. 10 at University Student Union Auditorium. A pair of town hall events, one to help student voters understand sample ballots and another with a discussion of ballot measures, are in the works.

Cal State Long Beach has participated in Ballot Bowl since its inception in 2018. Nearly 1,800 Beach students registered during 2020, the year of the most recent presidential election. The contest takes place in even-numbered election years, when presidential elections and gubernatorial contests take place in California. An extra bowl in 2021 helped students to register in time for the gubernatorial recall election.

The Ballot Bowl is a three-part event, and an overall win for The Beach would require a high score in the tally of students who are registered to vote and the percentage of registered voters among the entire student body, as well as a good grade for the campus’ plan to increase students' voter registration numbers and understanding of the issues at play.

“It’s not just about registering the students to vote, it’s about engaging with the students,” Burgener said.