Major changes to the voting and federal election processes are on the agenda in the Senate, and if Congress can pass the Democratic-led voting package, it will almost certainly have an impact on college students and campuses across the country.
The Senate plans to vote on Tuesday to move forward the For the People Act, also known as HR 1, which was passed in the House of Representatives on March 3. His future looks bleak – there are no Republicans to support the legislation, which means they will not meet the 60-vote threshold required to beat the Senate filibuster. West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin has also announced that he will vote against the law, but has since offered a compromise.
The 886-page bill contains 10 titles that focus on electoral access, election integrity and security, campaign finance, and government ethics. It aims to set national standards for modernizing voter registration and improving voter access in elections, which could be particularly important for college students and young voters.
These minimum standards are important because they would help students better understand how to vote regardless of where they are, said Michael Burns, national director of the Campus Vote Project.
“One of the obstacles that student voters often encounter is their high mobility and novelty in the process,” said Burns. “Even if they move from California to Pennsylvania to go to school, there are still some specific standards in place for online registration, same-day registration, and the ability to vote in person by mail or earlier.”
However, Hans von Spakovsky, former Federal Electoral Commissioner and Senior Legal Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, did not believe that a national standard was needed to facilitate voting for students moving from state to state.
“That’s just not an issue,” said von Spakovsky. “Today it is easier to register and vote than ever before in our history.”
The law specifically addresses the role of colleges in the voting process, including the designation of colleges and universities as voter registries and the obligation to have a “campus voting coordinator”. The coordinator would be responsible for disseminating voting information to the students such as voter registration, polling stations and how to find transportation to the polling stations.
The Higher Education Act of 1965 already required colleges to provide students with voter registration forms and to use “good faith” efforts to make voter registration widely available, Burns said. But many colleges don’t know the requirement exists and there is little enforcement.
“I think this would help to minimize a number of institutions that are not so focused on it, and then the campuses that are already doing more can continue to lead and help these examples and programs too develop that can be replicated in other places, ”said Burns.
Those campuses that already go beyond that or will do so in the future would be rewarded through the For the People Act. Institutions that demonstrate excellence in registering students for voting beyond the minimum requirements may receive a scholarship. This could include sponsoring large voter mobilization efforts on campus, providing transportation to polling stations, or inviting candidates to speak on campus.
The For the People Act contains other provisions that are not specific to higher education but could be especially helpful for college students and young voters, proponents say. For example, law requires states to provide online applications for voter registration, which would make registration more accessible to young people, said Clarissa Unger, project leader for the Students Learn Students Vote Coalition.
“Knowing that today’s youngest generations are digital natives, access to online registration can make a big difference compared to paper forms,” said Unger. “As soon as young people register, they are much more likely to vote.”
The bill would require states to allow same-day voter registration, which would provide “resilience” for students, which would likely lead to higher voter turnout, Burns said. And it would expand voting by post and allow an apologetic postal vote.
Also included are provisions that stipulate that all states allow two weeks early personal voting – including on weekends – for at least 10 hours a day and that polling stations are open for at least four hours outside the traditional 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. working hours. This can be especially helpful in boosting voter turnout among college students, who often try to vote early in the morning, later in the evening, or on weekends when their classes are not in place, said Maxim Thorne, new CEO of the campus electoral engagement project.
“Cutting those times – reducing the number of early election days and reducing the hours within an election day – is a hurdle,” Thorne said. “And every hurdle leads to a measurable decline in elections, especially among young people.”
And the bill would set up automatic voter registration in every state so that if a person provides information to certain government agencies, including colleges and universities, they would be automatically registered for voting unless they object. Sixteen and 17-year-olds could also be automatically registered under this provision, although it would not come into force until the age of 18.
This is of concern to von Spakovsky, who said it could result in students being double-registered in different states if they grew up in one state but attended college in another.
“Students who are unfamiliar with the law are notified that they are registered in two different states and think it is okay to vote in two different states,” said von Spakovsky. “And of course it’s not. This could lead to enormous problems. “
Von Spakovsky said he didn’t think the federal government should set standards for states as they have always been responsible for managing elections. But proponents of the For the People Act say legislation is needed – alongside efforts to get local voter engagement.
“Students really need the protection that the For the People Act provides,” said Unger. “But it is just as important to have local people who are part of the community or embedded in the campus and can include young people and student voters in the process.”
source https://collegeeducationnewsllc.com/voting-rights-legislation-would-change-the-college-voting-landscape/
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