Students voting in the Michigan Primary March 10, 2020.
—As the Michigan primary concluded, The State News spent the day polling at precincts on campus, interviewing 79 people, 76 of whom were Michigan State students.
Seven different staff members asked voters the same set of questions as they left the polling place, visiting on-campus precincts at IM East, IM West, Brody Hall and the MSU Union.
We asked about who students voted for, why they voted for that candidate, when they decided who to vote for and when they registered to vote. Voters were also asked about two ballot questions — Potter Park funding and a land sale for an MSUFCU building.
About 60% of responders were female while 40% were male.
About 64.6% of those polled were white or caucasian, 20% of the voters were black, and about 6% were Asian American.
The majority of students interviewed registered before the semester started at 65%, compared to 7% who registered in the past few days. 14% registered before spring break.
Similarly, 41% of the students interviewed had voted for the first time.
The precincts were overrepresented by sophomores, as they were 47.4% of responses. That was followed by freshmen at 23.7%, and juniors and seniors both represented 13.2%. The rest were either not students or graduate students.
For the Democratic primary, Sen. Bernie Sanders received an overwhelming majority of the votes, in contrast to other areas of the state where former Vice President Joe Biden led in votes.
“(Sanders) is the best with the best ideas who can beat Trump,” music education sophomore Hailey Olger said.
Sanders received 70 votes out of 79 students interviewed, or 88.6% support. Biden placed next, receiving four votes.
Health care was one of the deciding factors why students voted for Sanders in those interviews.
“I really believe that (Sanders) is going to make a difference for people in this country, especially those who are less privileged, and I believe that all of his policies are going to benefit the majority of people in this country who are suffering,” dietetics sophomore Cindy Wu said.
Yet, MSU students interviewed arrived at their decisions at different times.
Twenty-eight students said they made their decision about who to vote for within the past few days, compared to 30 who decided before the semester started. Seventeen students said they decided before spring break.
State News reporters Dina Kaur, Kaishi Chhabra, SaMya Overall, Matt Dwyer, Wendy Guzman and Lucas Day contributed to this report.
Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
