Should college students away from home vote absentee in Nov?

[K8-EEE]

My daughter attends college in NoCA but her voting address and materials still come to L.A. Is it OK for her to just vote by absentee ballot or should she change the address of the registration to her school address?

Have been reading scary stuff about "caging" efforts from the GOP, but as I recall, isn't absentee ballot voting less than optimal as well?

Interested in what the experts at DU have to say and will forward comments on to all our college friends.

[mzteris]

1. college students

who are just "at school" for school are still considered legal residents of their home state. Unless she got a driver's license or is planning on "LIVING" there - not just attending school there - then she is a "RESIDENT" of her home state - and that is where she should vote - by absentee if need be.

[K8-EEE]

3. OK I just wanted to make sure

that these votes couldn't be challenged by the whole "not your legal address" thing. She lives in Santa Cruz during the school year and here in L.A. at home.

[EFerrari]

6. If she lives in Santa Cruz (not South Carolina), she's better off

voting there because they have a cleaner system than L.A. County. fwiw

[K8-EEE]

9. Yes, Santa Cruz

that is interesting. I guess we really never know HOW or HOW ACCURATELY our votes are counted!

[EFerrari]

12. Remember in the primaries, it took LA County weeks to come up with a result?

The thing is, most races in CA are decided in LA County. So, it's a big target for fraudsters.

[mzteris]

17. "cleaner system"?

Can you say Alvin Greene?


oops ...

[EFerrari]

20. Greene isn't running in Santa Cruz, California. n/t

[mzteris]

21. I thought you were encouraging her to vote in SC

sorry - maybe I should take a nap now. . .

[K8-EEE]

29. LOL I shouldn't have been so vague

She's voting for Boxer and Brown in either Santa Cruz or Los Angeles! Not voting in either North Carolina or Louisiana....:)

[Radical Activist]

14. No. The law says students can register at either location.

If a student spends 9 out of 12 months in a town for school then that's where they "live" no matter how much the parochial townie politicians don't like it.

[mzteris]

19. Did it change then?

Laws must've changed because in the past - okay - way past - you were supposed to register where your HOME was - not where you were temporarily staying.

If one registers in the state they're attending, what does that do to their "legal residence" status?

[tammywammy]

23. It's been law that college students can register at either location for many many years.

I don't know what you mean by 'legal residence' status.

[mzteris]

27. If you're living somewhere temporarily -

even if it's for four years - you're not a "legal resident". You're a "temporary resident". College kids "stay" in a dorm but go home every summer.

Same thing with the military. Even if you're "stationed" in say - North Carolina, your state of legal residence can be Kentucky - where you enlisted. Or you can change your "home" state - state of legal residence - at any time to the state you're stationed in (you're an adult). Most military will keep it as the state they enlisted in - because that's "home" - unless they get to a state that doesn't have income taxes - then they'll list that state so they don't have to pay state income tax.

(Unless this has changed, too! I'm getting old. . . :crazy: )

[tammywammy]

28. College students CAN register to vote at their college residence

Even if it's different from their home state. This has been the law for many years, I personally was informed back in 1999 when I first entered college.

The military is different. If a service member is stationed in say Florida, they could change to vote there if even after they leave they plan on returning to Florida (though they were originally from another state). Also they can change their registration if it's a permanent duty spot relocation. Or they can vote absentee.

[Radical Activist]

25. It has been that way for at least a decade.

I don't know what the laws were in various states before that. What students are sometimes told they're supposed to do and what they legally have the right to do isn't always the same thing.

It's common for students attending an out of state university to change their registration in order to become a legal resident of their new state and eventually get the in-state tuition rate.

[backscatter712]

33. This is correct. Students can register at home, or as residents where they're going to school.

In Colorado (don't know about other states), the sole requirements are that you're a citizen, you're 18 years of age, and you've resided in the state for 30 days.

That's it. If you're living in the dorms, having come there from another state, you've lived in Colorado for 30 days, and assuming you're a citizen and you're 18, you can vote.

[tammywammy]

16. College students can register to vote at their school address n/t

[tammywammy]

2. She can do either option

If she changes to vote where she goes to school, shell have the ability to vote in their local elections. But there was a lot of whining in 2008 about college students voting where they go to school, but it's perfectly legal. It maybe even more convenient for your student to vote there.

[EFerrari]

4. Can I ask, what system do you vote on in your district? n/t

[K8-EEE]

7. We do the inky-ink thingee where I vote but

Not sure what system she would use if she voted in Santa Cruz? She is 19 and this is her first election, her roommates as well, but they are very much involved having experienced first hand the cuts in UC funding, libraries, buses etc.!

[EFerrari]

10. She should vote there. Los Angeles needs a major clean up.

Her vote is more likely to be counted correctly in Santa Cruz, afaik.

[WCGreen]

5. Hell yea, I always voted in college via absentee when I had too

[Vincardog]

8. In TX college students have the choice where they register. If she is going to register at the

school address have her be very sure the correct address is used.

[Radical Activist]

11. She can vote in either location. That's the law.

It's up to her to decide which location she wants her vote to influence. If she wants to vote at school she should change her registration very soon. Deadlines are approaching.
The only downside to voting at school is that there are often deliberate efforts to make voting more difficult in student precincts, such as not having enough voting machines or asking everyone for an ID with a current address. I suggest voting early no matter where she casts her ballot.

[K8-EEE]

26. Yes that is good advice, especially since voting is Tues

She has a huge class schedule Tues and Thurs...and she hates being late or missing class so absentee is probably the best bet.

[Maeve]

13. My daughter does absentee

Our local issues (school and library levies, for example) are important to her, so she votes from home.

Absentee voting is really growing here in Ohio and leaves a great paper trail for disputed elections, for what that is worth.

[MineralMan]

15. When I left home to attend college, I knew that I would never

live in my home town again. That was when the voting age was 21, so there wasn't much to do, and I was in the USAF when I turned 21, so I voted absentee. Once I left the Air Force, I registered wherever I lived. I went back to college, and registered there. As it happened, I stayed in that area for 35 more years.

For many college students leaving their home town is more or less a permanent decision. They will be residents of the place they go to school for four years or more, in all likelihood, so local elections in that place will affect their lives. I'd recommend registering where you go to school.

[Scuba]

18. Either. Just so she votes!!

[Wounded Bear]

24. What he said..../\

"Where" is a secondary consideration. But every person who doesn't vote is actually casting a vote for Repub return.

If we turn out, we win......or at least they lose. ;)

[Lyric]

22. They can do either, but they SHOULD vote wherever their vote will make the most difference.

For example, we have lots of liberal students from New England, NY, NJ, etc. here at WVU. We try to encourage them to vote HERE rather than absentee, because their votes have a better chance of making a difference here than they do back home.

[Puregonzo1188]

30. I'm in college. I'm from Maryland, but go to school in the Hudson Valley of New York.

I voted absentee in the last election, and will most likely due the same. A lot of my fellow students vote locally though, which has been a big issue. It's a small town that's traditionally Republican, but the students have been able to switch that. As a result, there's been a lot of attempts to disenfranchise them.

The last election was two months after I started school, and to be honest I would have felt uncomfortable voting in the local elections. I just didn't know the local area/politics/issues that well, where as, I had been politically active at home and felt like I had a vested interest in my local Congressional race.

[K8-EEE]

31. Very interesting, thanks for that!

I can see how you would want to vote for your own congressman.

Both her school and home are in hard core Dem areas so I guess it doesn't make much difference one way or another as far as the local races, for her.

Interesting at the attempts to disenfranchise. I guess that's what I had heard (I was listening to a radio show about disenfranchised voters and only heard half the student call.)

[Puregonzo1188]

34. It's all on the local level, the disenfranchisement is about the local town council

races not the statewide or even national elections. It's New York so it's a fairly safe blue state, the district recently went Dem a couple elections in row (Gillibrand, and now Scott Murphy), but the town council up until recently had a Republican majority for something like a 150 years. Someone the other day (I don't know if this is true), told me there are four registered Republicans at our school (it's a small liberal arts college). It makes a big district in a small town election. It's gotten pretty dirty, and even gone to court a couple of times.

[pinboy3niner]

35. If the situation were different, there might be a reason to change registration

Say, if your home Congr. dist. is a safe seat and the college were in a district where she might have a chance to cast a vote against someone like Issa. Since that's not the case, the only other consideration would be EFerrari's point about avoiding the possibility of corruption in vote-counting.

[laylah]

32. Of course! nt