381 Mason Students Voted at Merten Hall on Election Day

Students conduct voter exit surveys outside Merten Hall on Tuesday, November 2nd. Photo by: David Carroll/MCN

Student Media, Mason Cable Network, and Mason Votes conducted exit polling outside Merten Hall on November 2nd to learn more about what issues and candidates were motivating voters in 2021.

Students were asked to complete a short exit survey after voting at Mason’s on-campus polling place, and the results were analyzed during Mason Cable Network’s LIVE election night broadcast.

Mason voters overwhelmingly supported Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe (82.5%-McAuliffe (D), 13.3%-Youngkin (R), 2.1%-Princess Blanding (L), 2.4%-Other/Didn’t Vote), but Republican Glenn Youngkin was elected to serve as the 74th governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia and will be sworn in on January 15, 2022.

By far the most important issue to Mason students when casting their vote was Social Justice, with nearly 20% of respondents selecting that as their top concern: (19.6%-Social Justice, 11.9%-COVID-19, 9.8%-Women’s Issues, 9.1%-Abortion, 7.7%-LGBTQ+ Issues, 6.3%-Jobs/Economy, 6.3%-Party Loyalty, 5.6%-Taxes, 4.9%-Healthcare, 4.2%-Environment).

Enthusiasm was topic of concern for both parties during this off-year election cycle, but a majority of survey respondents at Mason reported being “very” or “somewhat” enthusiastic about voting in 2021: (42%-Very Enthusiastic, 32.7%-Somewhat Enthusiastic, 18%-Neutral, 6%-Not Very Enthusiastic, 1.3%-Not Enthusiastic At All).

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