Kniffin was one of the many community members who spent the afternoon of Sunday, Oct. 16, on the corner of N. Shaw Lane and Farm Lane hearing from U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow.

The trio came to MSU’s campus as part of a pre-election push for voter turnout amongst young people, though the majority of the event’s crowd was noticeably older than the target demographic.

All speakers mentioned the tight margins predicted for Slotkin and Nessel’s races, and emphasized that turnout of MSU students could sway the results.

“Some [elections], including mine, are going to be so close that whether or not students at Michigan State vote or don't vote will determine the fate of our democracy,” Nessel said. “If you guys can beat Wisconsin in overtime, then you can certainly save democracy for the United States of America.”

In the 2020 general election, only about 50% of Americans 18-29 voted nationwide, with 54% voting in Michigan. This marked a historic 11-point increase from the previous presidential election, though still left young Americans behind older generations in turnout.

Organizers of the event and the speakers see that trend continuing. Specifically, they agreed that Proposal Three, the ballot initiative set to decide the fate of abortion in Michigan, has spurred involvement of young people in the midterm elections.

“First of all, the organizers themselves are disproportionately women. And then when they go to register students to vote, they describe to me how if you have 10 women and 10 men, you're gonna get nine of those women and a couple of the men," Slotkin said. "And it's because of choice being on the ballot."

Slotkin has been attempting to drive student turnout specifically with a voter registration push. She has been paying student-organizers to go door-to-door, registering their peers in MSU dorms. According to Slotkin's campaign, the program has registered 2,151 students to vote.

Inspired by the organizing in the 2021 Georgia senate special-elections, Slotkin says relying on paid student-organizers rather than volunteers has helped her campaign more effectively engage with college students, as opposed to traditional techniques like television ads.

“Volunteers are often wonderful, but they've got other things going on in their lives. So, we made the decision not just to pay students, but to pay them a good wage,” Slotkin said.

Her campaign has been able to work around no-solicitation rules in MSU dorms by seeking out and employing students based on what dorms they live in. In a text message to The State News, MSU spokesperson Dan Olsen confirmed that "residents are able to do voter registration outreach within their own residence halls."