Generation Z holds the numbers to swing elections, yet like young voters before them, they still turn out at lower rates than any other age group.
According to the Berkeley Initiative for Young Americans, Gen Z had the lowest voter registration rate of any generation between the years 2016 and 2020. Despite this fact, students at Baylor University seem to strive to change the narrative.
“We have about 10 organizations getting involved with this,” said Josh Staz, president of the Baylor Ambassadors. “We had all these leaders from the different organizations that signed up, come and get deputized with someone from Mclennan County Elections.”
Adjusting to new environments — such as a college campus away from home — leads to various barriers that can make voting more scarce. The Fair Elections Center said a lack of knowledge, polling locations, and informational programs are just some of the boundaries young adults face in college voting environments.
Today, eligible voters between the ages of 18 and 25 have the lowest voter turnout. Rutgers Center for American Women and Politics reported that “in 2024 the 7.1 point gap among 18-24 year-olds was larger than any election since the data collection begins in 1996.” With these barriers and more for young voters, the efforts made on college campuses make a huge difference. Establishing a variety of outlets and removing those barriers for students allows an easier transition into participating in elections.
Staz said he understands why students might feel intimidated by the idea of going to a government building to register to vote. To eliminate this hurdle, his organization sets up registration tables directly on campus.
Baylor Ambassadors is a student-led organization, founded in 1982 by Baylor President Herbert H. Reynolds and Student Body President Russell Sullivan, that aims to make the process more accessible to students. The organization, in collaboration with Student Government, coordinates campus voter registration drives by partnering with various student groups — including Panhellenic sororities, the Alexander Hamilton Society, the Baylor NAACP, and Baylor College Republicans — who staff registration tables alongside deputized McLennan County election officials.
“Baylor Ambassadors is such a unique student organization because it actually is [ran] through [the Office of] Governmental Relations,” Staz said. “There’s just a lot of really cool opportunities, getting to work with our advisors being full-time employees at Baylor. Their knowledge is so, so helpful.”
Baylor also hosts a campus Texas Rising chapter, which helps organize voter registrations, youth leadership, and more. Active on over 20 colleges and universities, Texas Rising advocates for certain issues and allows students to get involved. Staz said Texas Rising is among the list of student organizations on campus that have deputized students and help students register to vote at Baylor.
What helps the Ambassadors entice more students to vote in McLennan County is the addition of an on-campus voting location.
Prior to 2014, Baylor was the site of one precinct polling place. Depending on where students lived, they would either be assigned to vote there, or at a nearby polling station in their voting precinct. When McLennan County officially moved away from precinct polling places, the Baylor location was officially shuttered.
The county had previously used the Wiethorn Visitors Center as a voting location, but issues arose with traffic and a lack of parking as elections coincided with spring graduation, according to the Waco Tribune-Herald. Safety issues mounted at other campus-adjacent polling locations, and elections officials cited limited parking, compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and having one dedicated space for every Election Day as reasons why the Baylor campus was not suitable to host a polling place.
A Change.org petition by the College Democrats at Baylor University gained some steam for campus a polling center in 2020. That same year, University President Linda Livingstone joined other college presidents in the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, committing the University to full student voter registration and to ensuring its students were able to cast informed ballots.
It wasn’t until the November 7, 2023, general election that the Mark and Paula Hurd Welcome Center opened as a day-of polling center. McLennan County Elections Administrator Jared Goldsmith said he is hopeful that the addition of the Hurd Center has made it more convenient and easier for Baylor staff and students.
Because the Hurd Center is open to all voters in McLennan County — not just the Baylor community or those living in the precinct — it also serves as a voting location for the broader Waco area.
“During the 2024 Presidential Election, 1,267 voters cast a ballot at the Hurd Center, which made it a top-five turnout location,” Goldsmith said.
