Join Mason Votes for a Debate Watch Party in the JC Atrium at 8pm on Tuesday, February 25th as the Democratic primary candidates square off LIVE on CBS.
Enjoy #FREEpizza and swag during the last debate before Virginia (along with 13 other states) votes on Super Tuesday, March 3rd for their choice to be the Democratic nominee.
Please join us at the Arlington Campus for our next “Pizza & Perspectives” program featuring former Rep. Barbara Comstock and former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe.
Join them as they discuss the 2020 Presidential race (and enjoy some FREE pizza, too)!
When: Wednesday, February 12, 2020
Time: 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
Where: Van Metre Hall Multipurpose Room, VM 124, Arlington Campus
Questions? Contact University Life Arlington, [email protected]
Virginia will vote for their choice in the 2020 Democratic Primary on Tuesday, March 3rd, joining Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Vermont as one of 14 Super Tuesday contests. More delegates are up for grabs on March 3rd than any other single day of voting in this cycle.
Eligible Mason students (U.S. Citizens and Virginia residents born on or before November 3, 2002) will be able to vote on campus at the Merten Hall polling place, provided they are properly registered at their current on-campus address.
The deadline to register or update your registration information is Monday, February 10, 2020 by mail or in person, or online at vote.virginia.gov by 11:59 pm, Monday, February 10th.
Click here for complete registration, voting, and eligibility information.
Fun Fact: Virginia doesn’t require voters to state their party when registering, meaning any registered voter can vote in the March 3, 2020 Democratic Presidential Primary.
NOTE: Democrats are the only party holding a Presidential Primary in Virginia on March 3, 2020. Republicans chose to select Delegates to their National Convention at a State Convention to be held at a later date. Source: www.fairfaxcounty.gov/elections/upcoming
George Mason University was awarded a Platinum Seal for Excellence in Student Voter Engagement by the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge* on November 12, 2019. Platinum Seal campuses met or exceeded 50% student voter participation in the 2018 midterm elections based on data collected by Tufts University’s Institute for Democracy & Higher Education. Mason’s designation as a Platinum Seal Campus (one of only 62 nationwide) reflects an increase in student voter turnout from 2017, when Mason was designated as a Silver Seal Campus. Click here to read more about voter engagement from Mason News >
Based on the most recent report from the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE), Mason’s 2018 voting rate exceeded the national average by double digits (52.4%-Mason vs. 39.1%-national average) and more than doubled our own rate of turnout in the last midterm election back in 2014 (52.4% in 2018 vs. 24.6% in 2014). See the chart below for a head-to-head comparison of Mason’s voting rate in the last two midterm and presidential cycles.
* The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge is a nonpartisan, national initiative recognizing and supporting campuses as they work to increase nonpartisan democratic engagement and full student voter participation. The Challenge encourages higher education institutions to help students form the habits of active and informed citizenship, and make democratic participation a core value on their campus. More than 560 campuses have joined the Challenge since its launch in summer 2016.
Student Media and Mason Cable Network conducted exit polling outside Merten Hall on Election Day (November 5, 2019) to learn more about what issues and candidates were motivating factors for student voters in the 2019 state and local elections.
Despite the lack of marquee national candidates on the ballot in this off-year election, over 100 students completed a short exit survey after voting at Mason’s on-campus polling place and local poll workers reported brisk turnout. The results of the exit surveys were announced on Mason Cable Network’s LIVE election coverage on Tuesday evening. Click here to watch MCN’s full election night broadcast on YouTube.
Mason Votes partnered with Student Media, Mason Cable Network, Student Government, Virginia21, Student Involvement, Students Demand Action, NAACP, OnAir, Pan-Hellenic Council, and other politically-active campus groups to host a joint “Party at the Polls” event from 10am-6pm outside the Merten Hall University Precinct. The get-out-the-vote effort included free coffee and donuts, music, student organization tabling, and visits by a few local candidates including James Walkinshaw and Chap Petersen.
U.S. Representative Gerry Connolly (D-VA 11th) also stopped by to chat with student organizers and he picked up a Mason Votes t-shirt during his visit to campus (see a photo on the right).
Keeping with trends seen in previous elections, Mason voters overwhelmingly supported Democratic candidates in all of the major races:
Virginia Senate: J.C. “Chap” Petersen (84%-Petersen, 13%-None of the above, 3%-Write-in candidate).
Virginia House of Delegates 34th: David L. Bulova (85%-Bulova, 14%-None of the above, 1%-Write-in candidate).
Virginia Commonwealth’s Attorney: Steve T. Descano (61%-Descano, 22%-Jonathan L. Fahey, 17%-None of the above).
The most important issue to Mason students when casting their ballots in 2019 was Civil Rights, with 20% of respondents selecting that as their top concern. This tracks fairly close to our 2018 and 2017 exit poll results when 28% and 25%, respectively, of on-campus voters identified Civil Rights as the most important issue.
The next most important issues to Mason voters in 2019 were Health Care (16%), Environment (16%), Economy and Jobs (10%), Gun Control (9%), and Higher Education (9%).
Full exit polling results can be found below. Click on an image to enlarge.
Photos by: Mohammad Abdallah Khamis
Video and Exit Poll Graphics courtesy of: Mason Cable Network
Democratic presidential hopeful Andrew Yang brought his 2020 campaign to George Mason University on Monday, November 4, 2019, rallying a capacity crowd of 1,900 students and supporters in the Center for the Arts on the Fairfax campus. The 44-year-old entrepreneur and self-described “Asian man who likes math,” is still considered a long-shot for his party’s nomination, but his ability to connect with college voters and recent $10 million grassroots fundraising haul suggest that his campaign might have more staying power than some of his fellow contenders currently polling in the single digits.
Best known for his signature universal basic income policy that would provide a $1,000 per month “Freedom Dividend” to every American adult, Yang has focused his campaign on addressing the concerns of disaffected voters who feel left behind by profound shifts in the American economy. Citing the rise of artificial intelligence, impending large-scale workforce displacement due to automation, and corporate tech giants like Amazon who don’t pay their fair share in taxes, Yang made the case for his “humanity first” economic approach at Mason on Monday night:
“We are going to rewrite the rules of the 21st century economy so that they work for us, they work for you… It is time to dispel this confusion in America that economic value and human value are the same things. They are not. And this is what threatens to turn us against each other and destroy us.”
Yang extended his economic theory to explain the election of Donald Trump in 2016:
“The Democrats are acting like Donald Trump is the source of all of our problems. He is not. He is a symptom, he is a manifestation of the fact that we’re going through the greatest economic transformation in our country’s history.”
Whether Yang’s energy and message are enough to turn “Yang-curious” Americans into full-fledged voting members of the #YangGang remains to be seen, but he continues to qualify for the televised Democratic primary debates and as a result will stay in the fight at least through Thanksgiving.
“The people of this country are a sleeping giant, and this campaign is the smelling salts, Virginia. We are going to wake the people up one by one… We are in a democracy. We are the owners and shareholders of this country, and if enough of us get together and say that we want an economy that works for us it will become a reality.”
Reporting by: Jason Hartsel
Photos and video by: Mohammad Abdallah Khamis
The Fairfax County Office of Elections is extending the deadline to make corrections to Mason campus voters who included inaccurate addresses on their voter registration forms provided by a third party voter registration drive held on Mason campus. Most importantly, this window of opportunity is only for those whose registrations have been held due to improper or incomplete addresses.
The extension is only for those that registered at Mason in fall of 2019.
You may submit a new voter registration application, or by writing your full name, residential address, year of birth, last four digits of your social security number and signature on a sheet of paper and providing it to the Fairfax County Office of Elections or scanning the submission and forwarding, as an attachment, to: [email protected].
You may also fax it to 703-324-2205, or deliver to the office 12000 Government Center Pkwy, Suite 323, Fairfax, 22035, during normal business hours. Business hours: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday – Friday, Saturday Oct 26, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and by noon, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2019.
Join Mason Votes for a “Poppin’ Up” event on Wednesday, October 30th from 11:30am-1pm in the Katherine Johnson Hall Atrium to get your FREE t-shirt and popcorn!
Join Mason Votes for a Debate Watch Party in the JC Atrium at 8pm on October 15th as 12 Democratic primary candidates square off LIVE on CNN. Anderson Cooper (CNN), Erin Burnett (CNN), and Marc Lacey (New York Times) will serve as moderators.
The following 12 candidates will appear together on the debate stage: Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Sen. Cory Booker, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Bernie Sanders, former VP Joe Biden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Kamala Harris, entrepreneur Andrew Yang, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, former Housing Secretary Julián Castro, billionaire and activist Tom Steyer, and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.
In order to qualify, candidates were required to meet a 2% polling threshold in four pre-approved polls and receive financial contributions from at least 130,000 unique donors (including 400 donors each from at least 20 states).
If not, the deadline to register or update your registration is Tuesday, October 15, 2019 (by mail or in person, or online at vote.virginia.gov by 11:59 pm, Tuesday, October 15th).
All Mason students are encouraged verify their current registration information and make any necessary updates as soon as possible by visiting: www.elections.virginia.gov/registration/
ON-CAMPUS STUDENTS: Use your HUB mailing address at 4450 Rivanna River Way, PMB #, Fairfax, VA 22030 as your residence address. However, question number 4 on the voter registration form must include the residence hall with your room number in the fillable area, when filling out the form. This will allow you to vote on campus at Merten Hall for the Presidential Election.
ONLY students properly registered at a campus address may vote at the University Precinct located at Merten Hall on the Fairfax campus. All other Mason students and faculty must vote at their registered home precincts.
Required Photo ID: Photo ID is required to vote. Your George Mason Student Photo ID is welcomed on Election Day.
Click here to download a “Pocket Guide for Voters” from the Virginia State Board of Elections.
