Indiana wants to strip (some) students of right to vote

[applegrove]

Indiana wants to strip (some) students of right to vote

by Brian Kanowsky at Religion & Politics: impolite company

http://www.briankanowsky.com/politics/indiana-wants-to-strip-some-students-of-right-to-vote/

"SNIP........................................


Indiana State Representatives Peggy Mayfield (R-Martinsville) and Jim Baird (R-Greencastle) have introduced a bill to revamp parts of Indiana’s election code. One part of that bill would block some college students from being able to register to vote.

As introduced, House Bill 1311 reads, in part:


A person does not gain residency in a precinct into which the person moves for educational purposes if the person pays a nonresident tuition rate.

I’m not sure if most people realize that the standard for being considered a “resident” for the purpose of tuition is much stricter than other definitions of residency. For tax purposes, you’re a full-year resident if you “maintain your legal residence in Indiana from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31.” (cf. IC 6-3-1-12) For driver’s licenses, it’s even more complicated – here’s the example the BMV gives on its website:


A person who is enrolled as a student in a Commercial Driver License training school in Indiana and has a legal residence in another state, but is living in Indiana temporarily for the express purpose of truck driver training, is considered to be an Indiana resident.


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[applegrove]

1. Voter suppression has started already.

[Igel]

2. I'll play devil's advocate.

I went to school in a town of 60k.

Of the 60k people in the town, perhaps 30k were over 18 and could vote.

That doesn't include the 18k college students, all of whom could vote.

In my several years in that podunk town, a number of initiatives came to the ballot. Bond issues, for example. Politicians (and dog catchers) were decided upon. It was a fairly conservative town.

However the town government, bond levies, etc., all bore a distinctly Democratic stamp. Thes students were mostly (D).

The students, most of whom were there for 3, perhaps 4 years, decided 20-year bond issues that they'd never pay for but which they favored. Just about every college administrator I've ever known considers students to be a transient population. They want to make important decisions based upon their immediate wants or needs but bear few long-term risks. In fact, there's nothing motivating them to consider anything long-term. (That they're 18-22 year olds, for the most part, pretty much precludes a lot of long-term thinking.)

Denying them the right to vote in that town wouldn't have denied them the right to vote. They'd still be eligible to vote in their towns of residence--mostly in the same state, but many from nearby states.

[applegrove]

3. What kid can afford to go home in early November? What would you do to

help in that regard? Allow early voting in August before the conventions? You are denying the students, the young democractic students, the right to vote. Trucking students are fine to vote by the way. This is democratic voter suppression.

I went to university in a city whose main industries was shipping, the navy and university education. Cities get a lot out of having universities. Denying the students essentially the right to vote is totally unfair.