Ahead of the California primary taking place March 3, The Panther surveyed 123 random, anonymous students about their political affiliation and voting plan for the 2020 primary and general elections. With national attention being paid particularly close to the voting rates of young people, following a record-breaking 16 point jump from the 2014 to 2018 midterm election turnouts, The Panther decided to conduct the survey to gain an insight into the voting habits of Chapman students.

The survey took place from Feb. 17 to Feb. 23 and used the website SurveyMonkey.com. The Panther’s survey consisted of six questions, asking students about their registered party, what (if a registered Democrat) Democratic presidential candidate they supported, or (if a registered Republican) if they were planning to vote for President Donald Trump, among other questions. Of the students surveyed, 67 percent identified as registered Democrats, 17 percent as registered Republican, 10 percent as registered Independent and 5 percent as “something else.”

The majority of registered Democrats surveyed said they would vote for Bernie Sanders in the 2020 Democratic primary election. Sanders received 47 percent of the student support. Elizabeth Warren received 17 percent of student support and 12 percent of students said they would vote for Pete Buttigieg. Every other Democratic candidate fell under the 3 percent.

17 percent of surveyed students said that they don’t know who they will vote for yet.

Of registered Republicans surveyed, 52 percent said they would vote for President Donald Trump, 33 percent said they would not and 13 percent said they were unsure.

Of everyone surveyed, regardless of party, 87 percent said they would vote in the 2020 primary elections, said eight percent they would not and five percent said they were unsure. When asked about voting in the 2020 general election, 93 percent of students surveyed said they would participate, with the other seven percent of students saying they would not vote, or were unsure as of now.

The Panther’s survey displayed a wide range of student voter locations. Although 73 percent of students surveyed are registered to vote in California, the remaining 27 percent were registered in states ranging from Illinois to Texas to Tennessee. The most common out-of-state voter registration was listed as Washington, with Arizona following as a close second.

Follow The Panther as we continue to cover the California primary.