The Share of College Students Casting Ballots Doubled from 2014 to 2018, a Potential Boon to Democrats. But Republicans are Erecting Roadblocks to the Polls.
Florida - Republican Secretary of State Outlawed Early-voting Sites at State Universities in 2014, only to see 60,000 Voters Cast On-Campus Ballots in 2018 after a Federal Court Overturned the Ban. This year, the State Legislature effectively Reinstated It, Slipping a Clause into a New Elections Law that Requires All Early-Voting Sites to offer “sufficient non-permitted parking”, an Amenity in Short Supply on Densely Packed Campuses. The League of Women Voters and the Andrew Goodman Foundation, a Mahwah, NJ, Nonprofit Group focused on Protecting Voting Rights for Young People, are Contesting Florida’s Parking Requirements for Polls in Federal Court.
Indiana - Purdue University said last month that it would Temporarily Not Charge Out-of-State Students a Fee for ID Cards, which are Valid for Voting in Indiana. Mitchell E. Daniels Jr., Purdue’s President and the State’s Republican Governor from 2005 to 2013, said he wanted to Encourage Civic Literacy among Students. Advocates for Student Voters argue that this is a Exceptions. “Everyone 18 years and older has a right, if not a duty, to participate in our electoral system,” said Maxim Thorne, the Managing Director of the Goodman Foundation. “We should be having conversations about how to make it easier, how to make it more welcoming, how to make it worthy of our time and effort. And what we’re seeing is the reverse.”
New Hampshire - A Republican-backed Law took Effect this Fall requiring Newly Registered Voters who Drive to Establish “Domicile” in the State by Securing New Hampshire Driver’s Licenses and Auto Registrations, which can cost Hundreds of Dollars Annually. Six in 10 New Hampshire College Students come from Outside the State, a Rate among the Nation’s Highest. As early as 2011, the State’s Republican House Speaker at the time, William O’Brien, Promised to Clamp Down on Unrestricted Voting by Students, calling them “kids voting liberal, voting their feelings, with no life experience.” The State Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is Suing to Undo the State Legislature’s Domicile Law.
Tennessee - A Law Requiring Election Officials to Help Register High School Students is commonly Skirted via a Loophole, said Lisa Quigley, the Top Aide to Representative Jim Cooper, a Tennessee Democrat and Voting Rights Advocate. And Cities like Knoxville and Nashville with Large Concentrations of College Students, have No Campus Early Voting Polling Places, she said. Tennessee Ranks 50th in Voter Turnout among the States and the District of Columbia. “We’re terrible at voting,” Ms. Quigley said. “And it’s intentional.”
Texas
— At Austin Community College, Civics is an Unwritten Part of the Curriculum, so much so that for years the School has tapped its own Funds to set up Temporary Early-Voting Sites on Nine of its 11 Campuses. No more, this Spring, the Texas Legislature Outlawed Polling Places that did Not stay Open for the entire 12-day Early-Voting Period. When the State’s Elections take Place in Three Weeks, those Nine Sites, which logged many of the nearly 14,000 Ballots that Full-Time Students Cast last year, will be Shut.
- Six Campus Polling Places at Colleges in Fort Worth are Closed.
- Two in Brownsville, on the Mexico Border are Closed.
- Other Polling Places at Schools Statewide are Closed.
Texas Law requires Educators to Distribute Voter Registration Forms to High School Students, but the Requirement appears to be Ignored by most of the State’s 3,700 Secondary Schools. And while many States allow Students to Preregister at 16 or 17, and even Vote in Primaries if they turn 18 by Election Day in November, Texas Bars Students from Registering until Two Months before their 18th birthday, the Nation’s most Restrictive Rule.
Some Texas Schools have sought for years to Lower those Barriers. At the University of Texas at Austin, a Group called TX Votes has greatly increased Turnout by Rallying Students against Voting Restrictions and Enlisting Scores of Campus Groups in Voting and Registration Campaigns.
Austin Community College, whose 39,000 Full-Time and 33,000 Part-Time Students sprawl over Campuses in Four Texas Counties, pursues a similar Strategy. The System’s Student Body is drawn largely from Working-class and Minority Families.
In addition to Sponsoring the Campus Voting, it gives its Employees Two Hours Off during every Election to Cast Ballots.
North of Austin, Southwestern University collected Ballots from more than Half of its 1,500 Students last November in a One-Day Visit by a Mobile Polling Place. Tarrant County, whose Largest City is Fort Worth, racked up 11,000 Votes at Mobile Campus Sites; Cameron County, in Southern Texas, Opened Three Campus Sites and Reaped nearly 2,800 Votes.
Dollar for dollar, Mobile Voting Sites were “the most effective program we had,” Dana DeBeauvoir, the Travis County Clerk and Chief Elections Official, said.
State Legislators took a Dimmer View. Last Spring, State Representative Greg Bonnen, a Republican from suburban Houston, filed Legislation to Require that All Polling Places remain Open during the Whole Early-Voting Period, Eliminating Pop-Up Polls. He argued that Local Politicians were using the Sites to Attract Supportive Voters for Pet Projects like School Bond Issues.
The Texas Association of Election Administrators Opposed the Change, and Democratic Legislators Proposed to Exclude: College Campuses, Nursing Homes, and Other Sites from the Requirement. But Republicans Rejected the Changes and Passed the Bill on Largely Party-Line Votes.
There are efforts to Push Back at the restrictions on Student Voting. The Elections Administrator in Dallas County, Toni Pippins-Poole, decided after the Legislature Outlawed Temporary Polls to spend the Money needed to make Pop-Up Voting Sites on Eight College Campuses Permanent.
Wisconsin - Legislators say College ID is No Longer an Acceptable Photo ID. While Legislators call the Rules Anti-fraud Measures, the State has Not Recorded a Case of Intentional Student Voter Fraud, But a Healthy Turnout of Legitimate Student Voters could easily Tip the Political Balance in many Closely Divided State Races.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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