EAST LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Michigan Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is gassing up her fleet of seven mobile SOS offices for a fall college tour, making pit stops at more than 20 campuses. The vans promise “convenience,” letting students and staff renew IDs, upgrade to REAL IDs, and register to vote without leaving the safety of their latte-lined quads. Sounds civic-minded enough but the reality is that the campus crowd is not exactly MAGA country.

DMV meets DNC.

Benson calls it meeting students “where they are.” Translation: bring the ballot forms straight to Democrat-friendly territory and call it a public service. Sure, the vans can handle the boring DMV chores, but the headliner act is voter registration – exactly where Democrats know their base is easiest to grow. Bonus feature: students can also sign up as poll workers under Benson’s “nonpartisan” Democracy MVP program.

2024 youth turn-out was already high.

MORE NEWS: Michigan’s Largest Hospital System Stops Prescribing Gender Drugs to Minors

Benson isn’t doing this because there was a reduction in the turnout of young voters in 2024. In fact, it was quite the opposite. In her own press release on September 9, she touts the fact that in the 2024 elections, Michigan saw the largest increase in young voter turnout in the nation. This is according to Tufts University’s Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE).

Turnout among voters aged 18–29 rose to 58% in 2024, up four points from 2020, the highest increase in the country. It also placed Michigan third nationwide in their youth vote, behind Minnesota (62%) and Maine (60%). The state also tied with Nevada for the highest turnout among 18–19-year- olds at 55%, trailing only Minnesota (60%) and Iowa (56%).

This surge came as national youth turnout slipped to 47%, down from 50% in 2020. CIRCLE credits Michigan’s preregistration law – which automatically preregisters 16- and 17-year-olds when they obtain a state ID or driver’s license – as a major factor. Since taking effect in January 2024, the law has preregistered more than 32,300 teens, with over 4,100 already eligible to vote. Benson highlighted these numbers while celebrating Michigan’s second annual Voter Preregistration Week which is September 7-13.

High turnout but more Democratic participation needed.

The surge in young voters didn’t automatically translate into a win for Democrats, however. In fact, exit polling suggests the opposite. According to an NBC exit poll, Michigan voters under 30 narrowly broke for Donald Trump over Kamala Harris, 51% to 47% – a notable shift from 2020, when Joe Biden carried the same age group by a comfortable margin.

Campus crawl, strategic style.

Against that backdrop, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is steering her mobile offices onto college campuses this fall. Her itinerary features Michigan State University, University of Michigan, Wayne State, Oakland, and Grand Valley State – all reliably blue strongholds. For critics wary of Benson’s political motives, the tour looks less like routine outreach and more like a carefully targeted push to engage students at the state’s largest universities, with Benson personally in the driver’s seat.