Keeping College Students from Voting

[DrPhil]

College students and the college educated are a privileged population even if their income and debt ratio do not resemble such privilege, so this topic is about so much more than college student voting.

There is an historical context for everything. Voter requirements such as some form of an I.D. card works when the requirements are applied to everyone and when everyone truly has some form of an I.D.. However, that has not been the case in many cities/states. These requirements were most often applied to certain groups of people because officials knew these people were less likely to have the requirements and therefore would be less likely to vote. The I.D. requirement makes sense but some people (and government agencies) consider it too reminiscent of when certain groups of people were required to take tests to vote.

It is important to pay attention and to research. Organizations, including chapters of NPHC orgs, are working with local communities to teach people of voting age (the young and the old) the importance of staying informed and accessing voting stations. This is the only way to buffer some of the effects of the negative stuff.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501363_1...ce-department/

I hope the average Occupier is/gets informed and votes. I hope the average facebooker, twitterer, and youtuber is/gets informed and votes. I hope the average spender who is stalking the stores for these holiday purchases is/gets informed and votes.

[christiangirl]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

Although there is almost no literal voter fraud there is LOTS of stunts like hanging door knockers in "certain" neighborhoods telling them to vote on Wednesday. I have been involved in elections where this literally happened.

You mean like the most recent one?

So here are my questions.

Sorry, they will hear, you have an out-of-state driver’s license. Sorry, your college ID is not valid here. Sorry, we found out that you paid out-of-state tuition, so even though you do have a state driver’s license, you still can’t vote.

1. Paying out of state tuition back in the summer when I came from out of state has nothing to do with this little card I have in my hand now. Once the DMV issues that DL, I thought that officially changes your residency to your new state. Is that not true?

Seven states have already passed strict laws requiring a government-issued ID (like a driver’s license or a passport) to vote, which many students don’t have, and 27 others are considering such measures. Many of those laws have been interpreted as prohibiting out-of-state driver’s licenses from being used for voting.

2. Interpreted by whom and are they relevant?

While I don't like this, I don't see it as the end of the world. Vote absentee if you have to, I guess. However, when I got to college there was a huge push for students to register locally. "You will spend 9-12 months a year HERE for the next 4 years. THIS is your home now, don't let it slip through the cracks. Vote on the initiatives, vote for the leaders whose decisions will affect you." If schools continue to get students all passionate about their new homes then the states pass something like this so the majority can't vote in them (including for the president), that is going to be a problem.

[33girl]

This is stupid.

Unless your college address is your PERMANENT address - i.e. you intend to make it your home even after you graduate from college - you should be voting absentee in your parents' district or wherever it is your permanent home is. If you don't know how to vote absentee or don't figure it out soon enough in advance, guess what? You're too dumb to vote.

And there's nothing wrong with requiring state or federally issued photo ID. I have no idea of what, say, Bryn Mawr College does when they take their photo IDs. For all I know, they pick homeless people off the street and stick their pictures on random cards. Why should I accept this as proof of anything? You can't use a college ID for check verification or many other things either.

Originally Posted by christiangirl

However, when I got to college there was a huge push for students to register locally. "You will spend 9-12 months a year HERE for the next 4 years. THIS is your home now, don't let it slip through the cracks. Vote on the initiatives, vote for the leaders whose decisions will affect you." If schools continue to get students all passionate about their new homes then the states pass something like this so the majority can't vote in them (including for the president), that is going to be a problem.

Fixed your ambiguous post. Whatever the school wants to do is not the state's business, or vice versa, and the states are the ones making the laws. I personally would question why the school is pushing this so much - it sounds like an indicator of a bad town/gown relationship and like the school figures it will be able to dupe the students into voting for things that aren't that great for the people who actually live there. The average Joes in college towns (I don't mean the profs and administrators) are usually on a MUCH lower socioeconomic level than the average students.