voting rights - of students

[bishop]

article

CHICAGO (AP) -- Young Han tried to register to vote in the New York town where he attends college but got a letter telling him to cast an absentee ballot where his parents live, more than 2,000 miles away. In Virginia, Luther Lowe and Serene Alami were told much the same -- their campus addresses at the College of William and Mary were deemed "temporary."

With so much emphasis on getting young people to the polls this election, the issue of where college students can register to vote is getting more attention. And some students -- who believe they should have the right to vote where they live most of the year -- are getting organized.

"We plan to push this issue," says Han, a 21-year old junior at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, who's originally from a Seattle suburb. "Students are being disenfranchised."

"Local politicians are very unsure about students," says Michael O'Loughlin, a political science professor at Salisbury. "They enjoy having students pay (sales) taxes and contribute to the economy. But they are wary of how students could influence politics at a local level."

what's going on here?

seems that this issue puts one's right to vote up against the electoral college.

[bugsbunny04]

I'm registered to vote in a pricienct that is 240 miles from my home town. If I am denied my right to vote in November, my next care package from home will include my AK.

[waterfalllife]

I too have to register in my "birthtown" in CT. I live in MA right now. And will for many months. Why cant I vote where Im closest to? It doesnt make much sense to me to travel 2 hours or mail in my ballot (all I can hear is "Sorry sir, it got lost in the mail" as a reason why my vote didnt "count"). Like bugs said, if my vote becomes denied, Ill give them a ballot full of lead.

[Liberty Landing]

seems that this issue puts one's right to vote up against the electoral college.

What's the electoral college have to do with this?

Anyway, I live in one town, attend college in another; each is in a different legislative district, so I have to vote in my hometown and I can only obtain an absentee ballot if I absolutely have to be at college (which I don't, because it's closed on election day).

That said, if you actually live at your school, there's no reason to be denied registration. This is probably a bureaucratic mix-up or misinterpretation of election laws, though, not some determined conspiracy to deny youth the right to vote.

[bishop]

What's the electoral college have to do with this?

i thought it was fairly obvious.. according to the article i linked, you don't "live" at your school in the technical sense - it's classified as a temporary residence. your actual residence is your home, wherever that may be.

you can vote by absentee ballot in your permanent district, but you cannot vote in the district where you're a temporary resident.

this issue challenges the electoral college because students are trying to vote in booths in places where they are not permanent residents. if people can temporarily reside and vote in states of their choosing, then it's possible that motivated people could temporarily establish residence in swing states in hopes of influencing the outcome of an election.

[Bob_Dobbs]

heh. ballot full of lead. i'm planning on using an absentee ballot myself, as i will be miles from home during the vote.

however, i should easily be able to register to vote in any one county i choose to. denying me that right is obstructing the democratic process and i deplore the people who would force that upon me.

[Liberty Landing]

i thought it was fairly obvious.. according to the article i linked, you don't "live" at your school in the technical sense - it's classified as a temporary residence. your actual residence is your home, wherever that may be.

Ahh, OK, I gotcha'.

Actually, this sort of makes sense, given the recent news story about multiple voters who live in a "solid" state but are also registered in, and vote by absentee ballot in, "swing" states. This is because the system has no safeguards and basically relies on people being honorable.

[bishop]

something was mentioned in class tonight that seems to have thrown a little wrinkle relavent to this issue.

when the census is taken, students are counted as being residents of the city they're in - i.e. the city they're going to school in. this is constitutional law, probably derived via supreme court rulings.

if the census is allowed to count out of state students as local residents, then how could these students be denied the right to vote in the city they're attending school in?