Only 20% of eligible players in the NBA voted in the 2016 general election – a stark contrast to the over 90% of league players who have registered to vote for the 2020 race, according to Chris Paul, the president of the National Basketball Players Association. Fifteen teams out of the league’s total 30 report 100% of their players were registered to vote. 

Although the sample size is small, the surge of voter activity within the NBA reflects a larger increase in voting across two key categories: age and race. About 80% of players who participated in the 2019-20 season were between the ages of 18 and 29, a demographic which saw a larger turnout of early voters this year than in 2016. 

Furthermore, nearly 75% of the league is Black and the number of Black voters who headed to the polls in 2020 increased from 2016 by over 4 million, according to TargetEarly 2020. This contrasts with the 59.6% Black voter turnout rate in 2016.

Out of eight athletes from different Chapman sports teams, a majority said they submitted their ballot in the general election. A few of these teams, including women’s lacrosse, stated that all of their players who were eligible to vote did so.

“It’s so crucial (to vote),” said Sarah Spaeth, senior women’s lacrosse captain. “If anyone is expecting or wanting to see change, voting is absolutely necessary.”

Football and men’s and women’s basketball also had nearly their entire teams vote, according to football senior Jonston MacIntyre, men’s basketball junior Anthony Giomi and women’s basketball senior Brittany McPherson. The high levels of voter turnout can likely be attributed to Chapman’s efforts to encourage their students to vote, Spaeth explained.

“Chapman sports have come together to provide us with a lot of resources,” Spaeth said. “They provided us with a lot of social media posts.”

Services like those offered by the Chapman Civic Engagement Initiatives may have helped encourage younger voters, said Fred Smoller, a Chapman campaigns and elections professor.

“In every election since I was in college, the youth speak a lot, but when it comes time to vote, they don’t turn out,” Smoller said. “That has completely been reversed in this election. Eighteen to 29-year-old voters are turning out in unprecedented numbers.”

In addition to the age demographic, Smoller believes Black voters could play a huge role in deciding the next president of the United States.

“In 2016, African American turnout dipped six or seven points, and that was a huge factor that led to Hillary Clinton losing,” Smoller said. “African American voter turnout is a major component for what could be a Biden victory.”

Just as with trends seen in the NBA, Black and youth voters turned out in large numbers in this year’s election – and those demographics could spearhead a victory for their preferred candidate.