New York’s voter turnout in the recent midterm election was the lowest in the United States and lower than the state’s turnout in any midterm election in the past three decades.

Only about 40 percent of registered New Yorkers voted on Nov. 2. According to a report from The New York Times, the low turnout was attributed in part to the state’s slow adaptation to convenient voter registration and early voting options — an issue that pertains to college students.

“New York is not an absentee-friendly state, at least relative to other states where absentee ballots are much easier to come by,” said John McNulty, assistant political professor of political science at Binghamton University who studies elections and campaigns. “This definitely reduces the turnout of people away from home at college, a segment that is generally aged between 18 to 24, the youngest cohort in the electorate.”

According to McNulty, students registered at home but who live away at college are less likely to participate in midterm elections because of the lack of accessibility to absentee ballots.

Gregory Horowitz, president of the College Democrats at BU, said historically between 500 and 1,000 students on campus vote. Yet, during a midterm election, the voting numbers are always lower than a presidential election.

According to Horowitz, this year’s turnout was particularly low because of specific logistical problems surrounding the voting process at Binghamton.

Horowitz highlighted a number of problems with town ordinances and the active participation of members of the community in keeping college students from voting.

“We have guessed that the majority of college students who went to vote were told they weren’t eligible and thrown to the side, myself included, plus a number of members in College Democrats, including E-Board,” Horowitz said. “Once the situation was recognized, the state Democratic Party had its lawyers down here.”

Horowitz estimated between 150 and 300 BU students voted in this midterm election.

“There were reported problems across the state, which were very similar to the ones that took place here in Binghamton,” said Horowitz.

Despite the apparent problems with the voting process, Horowitz believed the turnout still would not have surpassed 500 votes.

Professor McNulty added that the youth vote might not have held much influence in this election, anyway.

“The youth vote shifted to the right along with the general trends,” McNulty said. “It was still more Democratic overall, but not so much so that a big turnout surge would have mattered.”

The College Democrats try to encourage student voting on campus, but encounter difficulty in gaining participation.

“We really have to go out of our way to advertise and push for student involvement in voting, and it can often be difficult,” Horowitz said. He said that those who vote are usually the people who both want to vote and are able to find the time to do so.

Daniel Rossman, a sophomore majoring in philosophy, politics and law, volunteers for local Queens Democrat Ed Braunstein. He agreed that voting while at school can be inconvenient. He voted in this midterm election, but he sympathized with students who do not have the time.

“With busy schedules that include attending class and completing school assignments, students lack enough incentive to spend the necessary time applying for and then completing an absentee ballot,” Rossman said.