Empowered to Engage: Social Work Students ' Understanding of US Voting Rights, Elections and Election Integrity

Background:

The social work profession with the United States (US) has seen laudable efforts to increase voter engagement (Abramovitz, et. al., 2019; Hill, et. al., 2019; Hylton, et. al., 2023; Lane, et. al., 2019). This push reflects a historical commitment to the promotion of political power through voter engagement (Lane, et. al., 2007). While efforts to engage students in voting have increased, little is known regarding what these students understand about elections and voting.

This study sought to explore the electoral knowledge and perceptions of election integrity among a sample of social work students. Two questions guided the study: 1) what do social work students know about the laws that govern voting and elections within the US? and 2) how do these students perceive the integrity of US elections? Understanding what students know about and how they perceive elections will enable educators to better prepare these students for voter engagement.

Methods:

The study employed a cross-sectional survey design with social work students enrolled in a medium-sized, public university in the eastern US. Recruitment mails were sent to students enrolled in the graduate and undergraduate social work programs. Students who self-identified as 18 years or older were asked to complete an anonymous, 32-item online survey. Questions regarding elections and voting rights were organized into three categories: knowledge of voter registration requirements; general election knowledge; and knowledge of voting rights. One hundred fourteen social work students completed the survey, resulting in a response rate of 17%.

Findings:

The average score on the election knowledge measure was 6.22 out of 10. Students in this sample were able to identify basic facts about elections and voting rights, including questions related to the 1965 US Voting Rights Act (85.7%) and voting as a constitutional right (98%). However, less than half of social work students (40%) understood that people who are homeless or people with felony convictions are not automatically barred from voting. Additionally, only 42% of social work students could identity the organizations required by US law to provide voter registration opportunities.

Over half of social work students were concerned about the integrity of elections with the US. Relatedly, 72% rated voter suppression as either a grave or definite threat. Less than half of the students viewed foreign interference (46%), voter fraud (33%), or vote tampering (36%) as threats. A majority of social work students rated early voting, same-day voter registration, automatic voter registration, and mail-in voting as important to equitable and fair elections.

Conclusions and Implications

Students in this study evidenced a moderate to poor understanding of US elections and voting rights. While they were likely to understand basic facts about elections, these students were likely to not understand the rights of specific vulnerable populations or where voter registration can legally happen. This finding supports increased coverage of voting rights and laws governing nonpartisan voter engagement. Threats to election integrity should be explored directly, with attention to how efforts to suppress the vote or interfere with elections ultimately impact vulnerable communities.