A friendly competition with Utah Valley University encourages students to vote in local elections.
Voting is one of the most direct ways individuals participate in their communities, and for many students at Brigham Young University, civic engagement begins at the local level. Through efforts led by the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences Office of Civic Engagement in November 2025, students learned that participating in local elections is not just important, but deeply impactful.
A friendly competition called the “Campus Cup ‘Lite’” involved a race between BYU and Utah Valley University to see who could register the most students to vote in a local election. The purpose of the competition was to help students understand why civic engagement matters regardless of election size.
In 2025, BYU won the competition by registering over 200 students to vote, which gave senior Avery Moon from Salt Lake City, Utah, hope to win again in the 2026 statewide “Campus Cup” competition.
“Moving forward, I hope that students continue to be interested in being involved,” she says.
While national elections often dominate attention, involvement closer to home can shape policies that affect students’ daily lives and strengthen their sense of responsibility to the communities they inhabit. Local elections offer students an opportunity to see the direct effects of their involvement.
“We wanted to send the message that it was important for students to be engaged not just in national politics but local politics as well, because that’s what affects our lives the most,” says Aaron Skabelund, professor of history and director of the Office of Civic Engagement.
Moon chose to pursue a minor in civic engagement because she sought opportunities to actively participate in her community and help others do the same. She helped lead student voter registration efforts at BYU, viewing the work less as a competition and more as an invitation for students to recognize their own influence.
“Voters matter. Voices matter. Especially for students,” she says.
Local Efforts
Skabelund shared that the importance of local elections is often lost when put against large-scale national elections. Yet the smaller scale of the local elections increases the importance of each individual vote.
Because “one vote in a local election has a bigger impact”, participation becomes especially meaningful, making it an excellent starting point for citizens to participate in politics. Research shared by Skabelund shows that individuals who vote in local elections are more likely to continue participating in future elections, making local engagement an important entry point into lifelong civic involvement.
Skabelund explained that when students are not engaged in their communities, their political opinions are not considered in legislative decisions that affect housing, transportation, education, and community resources. Even when students live in a city temporarily, they are still impacted by local policies and deserve representation.
For this reason, Skabelund urges students to vote in local elections.
“This could lead to policies that are more friendly to BYU as a university,” he says. “That’s why it’s more important at a macro-level.”
At a micro-level, Skabelund shared that every individual is needed — and that civic participation benefits all.
“On an individual level, we need engaged citizenry. That leads to a healthy democracy. It’s more fulfilling for people. They gain satisfaction by being engaged,” Skabelund says.
Answering the Call
During the Campus Cup ‘Lite’ competition, Moon observed this sense of political engagement firsthand while interacting with students across campus. She was surprised by how many students expressed enthusiasm about registering to vote, noting that many had already intended to do so but needed prompting.
“A lot of BYU students are service minded and want to make a difference in their community,” she says. “I think that helped us to get a lot of students interested in registering to vote.”
Learn more about the civic engagement minor and the Civic Engagement Leadership Association.