Voting Rights


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Last fall, Students for PIRGIM was actively involved in the campus voter registration drive. Our involvement in these efforts showed us firsthand how confusing the process of registering to vote can be for many college students. We were bombarded with questions like how to get an absentee ballot or what are the special requirements for first time voters.

What’s the problem? Michigan voting laws are unnecessarily complex!

A recent study conducted by Harvard’s Institute of Politics found that Michigan is one of only five states with voter identification safeguards more stringent than those required by the federal Help American Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA).

Current Michigan voting laws require that:

  • if you have a Michigan drivers license, the address you register to vote at must match the one on your drivers license
  • if you are a first time voter, you must vote in person or attain an absentee ballot in person from your county or city clerk.
  • only people meeting certain requirements can vote by absentee ballot

These laws interfere with voter turnout, making it particularly hard for college students to vote. We spoke with students who had trouble finding time to drive home to get an absentee ballot in person, or had to skip classes on election day to vote in person. Because students do not want to change their drivers license to their college address, many choose to vote at their home address instead. National survey data from the 2004 election as reported by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) showed that 67% of college students registered in their home town, and 22% of them would prefer to have registered at their school address. Also,

voter turnout for college students in the 2004 election was 8-10% higher for those who registered at their school addresses rather than their local addresses. This data suggests that voter turnout for college students would be even higher if Michigan voting laws made it easier for students to register at their college address.

What are we going to do about it?

Students for PIRGIM is organizing ways for students to let their elected officials know how they feel about voting laws that discourage their participation. We will be coordinating a lobby day to bring students from around the state of Michigan to Lansing to let our legislators know that this is an issue we care about. Through lobby day, as well as a call-in day, we hope to raise awareness of the issue on campus and in Lansing.

We will also build a coalition of groups committed to voting rights to support these events.