UC Santa Barbara beat out over 200 schools to claim the top spot in the 2024 California University and College Ballot Bowl. The California Secretary of State’s office hosts the biannual competition, which spurs college students to register, vote and showcase their civic engagement throughout election season. UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz and UC San Diego also took home honors in this year’s competition.
California Secretary of State Shirley Weber highlighted UC's winning campuses today in a virtual awards ceremony. The competition is open to all University of California campuses, California Community Colleges, California State Universities and Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities.
UC Santa Barbara rose to the top this year on the strength of its voter registration and activation drives. During fall move-in week in September, for instance, student volunteers fanned out to every floor of every campus residence hall with voter registration information, directly connecting almost every first-year student with information and opportunities to register.
"This campus has a really strong commitment to the democracy movement and it has made me so proud to be a part of it," said UC Santa Barbara fourth-year political science and economics major Jeanne Broome, who co-led the campus's student voter activation efforts this past fall, in remarks accepting the top award from Secretary Weber.
“UC Santa Barbara performed well in registering students to vote and had a stellar campus action plan, earning their spot as the 2024 overall Ballot Bowl champion,” said Secretary Weber in an earlier video announcing this year’s winners. The campus earned 695 out of a possible 702 points awarded in the competition.
UC shines in voter registration, engagement
UC Berkeley earned an award for the registering the most student voters of any UC campus this election season. Weber also recognized UC Santa Cruz as the UC campus that registered the highest share of its students. And UC San Diego took home the title for the Best Civic and Voter Empowerment Action Plan among UC campuses.
“We’re incredibly proud of the thousands of Banana Slugs who were eligible to vote and made voting a priority this election season — many of them for the first time,” said UC Santa Cruz Associate Dean of Students Travis Becker. This past election cycle, Becker worked with students to form a new organization, MOVE: Mobilizing Our Voices for the Election. The group has continued to meet since November. “Their ongoing dedication to civic engagement gives me hope for our shared future and continues the proud tradition of passionate democratic participation that defines the student experience and legacy across the UC,” Becker said.
"When students vote, they are not just checking a box. They are making a commitment to having their voices heard, to holding leaders accountable and to shaping policies that affect our lives," said Ava Escobedo, who led voter programing for the Associated Students of UC Berkeley Vote Coalition. "Increasing voter participation, especially among young people, ensures that democracy is truly representative. This award is a testament to the power of student organizing and civic engagement and reminds us that when we work together we can achieve meaningful change."
"During our Election Day event, we asked students to write a note about why they voted and what voting means to them," said Tanya Pulla, student representative on the Triton Vote coalition at UC San Diego. "For this election specifically many students said they voted to protect their rights and loved ones, reminding us that our votes do matter and do hold value."
