Electionline.org

July 21, 2004

Young Voters Face Hurdles to Voting, Working at Polls
By Jessica Woods and Andrew Ryan

Unlike most of his peers, Luther Lowe wanted to vote. 

A student at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va., Lowe, along with three other students, were bucking the trend of political apathy plaguing an estimated 75 percent of their age peers and were determined to cast ballots in a city council election in the spring of 2003 election.  

Lowe said he and his fellow students were surprised to learn that under state law they were unable to vote.  The reason, they were told by Williamsburg City Registrar David Andrews, was that they were not permanent residents.   

���I had to fill out a two-page questionnaire that asked, among other things, if I attended church in the town,��� Lowe said of the registration process. ���The voter registrar said the reason I had to fill out this ���legally binding��� form was because I was a student.���  

Lowe and another student, Serene Alami, with assistance from the Virginia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), challenged their denial in the state circuit court and in federal court. Lowe���s denial was overturned because he had committed to six years of service with the Virginia National Guard.  

Alami���s registration denial was upheld. On June 22, 2004 the ACLU asked the Virginia Supreme Court to allow Alami to vote in local elections.

Low turnout among young voters - only a third voted in the 2000 Presidential election and less than a quarter in other federal elections, according to the U.S. Census Bureau - is often attributed to political apathy among American youth. Yet a number of college students, like Lowe, are discovering other barriers that prevent them from casting ballots. 

In a majority of states, voters of all ages who wish to register must first establish what most states term a, ���fixed and permanent��� address. However, in most counties across the nation a student���s dormitory address does not qualify for residency since it shows no intent to stay indefinitely.

College students spend at least eight months a year for four years living in or around the college community where they are greatly affected by local politics, advocates say. Stringent residency regulations keep students out of the local decision making process, despite having a stake in their communities.  

���When registrars block students from registering to vote in local elections they not only deprive them of a constitutional right, but they also discourage them from participating in our democracy. That is the exact opposite of what registrars ought to be doing,��� said Kent Willis of the Virginia ACLU in a recent statement.

The 26th Amendment of the Constitution sets the federal voting age to 18. The Supreme Court ruled in 1979 that students can vote where they attend school, if they establish residency.  However, what constitutes residency is still unclear and increasingly, controversial. 

In New York, some out-of-state college students are able to register. After lawsuits in the mid-80s, the State Board of Elections is now ���unofficially��� advising and encouraging county registrars to look closely at each individual case.   

According to Lee Daghlian, a spokesman for the New York State Board of Elections, most problems with student registration arose from discrepancies in the definition of permanent residency. Daghlian said that now the county registrars are, ���more liberal in applying this law��� and the state has few problems now.

Residency issues extend further than simply denying the right to vote. Registration requirements also prevent students from becoming poll workers at a time when most election administrators warn of severe shortages of personnel.  

���Allowing out-of-state students to be local poll workers is a great way to increase interest in voting while tapping into students willingness to volunteer,��� said Jill Fasching, student government president of the University of Richmond���s Westhampton College.  

In Virginia, only registered voters can view voter registration records, according to the Richmond City registrar, leaving college students off the eligible list. 

There are some notable exceptions. For example, in California state law was recently revised to allow any registered voter to work as a poll worker in the state.  

���This was changed explicitly to allow college students to volunteer as poll workers where they attend school,��� said Marc Carrel, California���s assistant secretary of state said.  

The 2001 Public Affairs and Civic Engagement report, ���Democracy and Student College Voting,��� found that North Carolina, Louisiana, Iowa and Wisconsin allow students to determine their own residency for voter registration purposes.  

According to Rosemary Blizzard, North Carolina Elections Liaison, in North Carolina, college students who ���intend to remain in state��� are permitted to register to vote.  No forms or documents are needed, Blizzard said.  The only requirement is that students cancel their registration in another state. 

In Durham County, North Carolina, home to Duke University and the University of North Carolina, Elections Director Mike Ashe said a lot of students register to vote, but not many become precinct officers. This could change under a new federal program created as part of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). 

Under HAVA, the new U.S. Election Assistance Commission is charged with creating the HAVA College Program.  The program���s purpose includes encouraging students enrolled at institutions of higher education to assist in local election administration by serving as poll workers. The panel is expected to develop the HAVA college program and have it running in time for the November election, according to Adam Ambrogi, an assistant to Commissioner Ray Martinez.  

College students frustrated at the lack of opportunities to serve as poll workers will probably not find much help -- even from the organizations that are dedicated to increasing turnout among young voters. While groups such as Rock the Vote, Youth04.org and youthvote.org deal with youth voter issues such as out-of-state registration, these organizations ���don���t have a specific stance��� on the college poll worker issue, said Veronica De La Garza of youthvote.org.  

���We are only trying to increase the vote among 18 to 30 year olds,��� she said