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Obstacles to Youth Voting

By pdelatorre - Jan 25th, 2008 at 10:27 am EST

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Tags: voters, Voting, voting reform, Voting Rights, youth

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The Chronicle of Higher Education has a good story about some of the obstacles students face getting to the polls. They also explore some of the great youth voter registration efforts going on right now.

The most egregious problem:

Many students who go away to college want to register to vote where they are in school. In some states it is relatively easy. Minnesota and Wisconsin, both of which allow voters to register on Election Day, had the top two youth turnouts in the 2004 presidential election: 69 percent and 63 percent, respectively.

In some other states, voters must prove an "intent to stay." Election law in Ohio has specific provisions about students, who may vote, it says, if they intend "to reside permanently in the Ohio county in which the school residence address is located."

At least there is a good, student-led group challenging barriers to the ballot box (or screen): Student Association for Voter Empowerment.

If you aren’t registered yet – click here.

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Other Problems

By Gary Ridley Jan 25th 2008 at 12:42 pm EST

In Michigan, where I am from and attend school, many students are still covered under their parents U.A.W. health insurance policies. A part of this policy states that you must be a full time student, and still be a dependent of your parent, hence maintaining their residency as your legal address. This makes it so you can only vote in your parents district, meaning that some students who live 3,4, or even 6 or 7 hours away must pick whether they are going to attend class the day of the vote, or spend the money and time to drive home. Absentee ballots in Michigan are only available if you have voted once before, or registered to vote in person. So students who were already away at school for their first available election, registered online or in the mail, or turned 18 after they started school, are often ineligible for absentee ballots. Yet again, the young and poor are excluded from the political process, and people wonder why our generation is so apathetic! I don't understand why election day isn't a national holiday so people don't have to work or go to class. Than again, the powers at be would never make it easy for the general populous to participate.

I'm guilty

By Brittany S Jan 25th 2008 at 3:03 pm EST

I remember vividly when I registered to vote a few days after my birthday during February of senior year. I had worked hard on many political campaigns and hated it that a great deal of adults didn't care enough to take a few minutes out of their day to vote.

And then... I went to college. Even though I was active in the College Democrats, I admit that I did not vote in last November's elections. I wish I had a really good excuse, but the truth is that I just kept forgetting to order my absentee ballot.

I wish there was a way for students in all states to vote where they went to school. How great would it be if they could even put polling booths on campuses? I know that if I, politically active as I am, was too lazy to vote, that there is little hope for my more apathetic friends to make the effort. Hopefully more states will follow these leads.

Guilty and Misguided Both, I Think

By Tyler Cruse Jan 25th 2008 at 8:39 pm EST

" I know that if I, politically active as I am, was too lazy to vote, that there is little hope for my more apathetic friends to make the effort"

Why would you want these apathetic people, who arguably have also been too apathetic to learn much about the issues, voting? Isn't this a receipe for the perpetual continuation of dysfunctional government?

Vote-by-Mail

By Kayla Jan 28th 2008 at 10:03 am EST

This is another situation where I'm proud to be an Oregonian. Oregon's vote-by-mail system not only makes it very easy to sign up for an absentee ballot, but it has produced record turn out. Voters have two weeks from when they receive their ballots in the mail to submit them (voters can mail them in or drop them off at official sites). It's convenient, cheap and reliable.

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