To vote or not to vote? For college students, this is not a new question. College students have always been faced with a choice: vote where you live and go to school or vote where your parents live. Some students have only voted by absentee ballot in the place where they grew up. These students tend to be more likely to vote during presidential elections and less likely to cast absentee ballots in midterm or local elections. They tend to hold the belief that they are temporary “visitors” in their college towns; that they have no legitimate connection to their local towns beyond leaving campus to shop or engage recreationally.
Others choose to register and vote where they attend college. Many become interested in local politics, either through off-campus volunteering or class assignments. They also tend to vote more during major elections, but have a higher likelihood of voting in minor elections. These students are more likely to get involved with local campaigns, read local newspapers, and participate in campus political organizations. Perhaps, most significantly, these students express concern over the likelihood that their absentee ballots will not be counted in their home states, and are more comfortable voting in person in their college towns.
I am actually less concerned about the normative question of whether college students should vote where they attend school. What concerns me more is that college students know that they have the right to vote where they go to school. Because of changes to the law in Dutchess County, college students cannot be denied the right to vote here. Whether they attend Marist, Bard or Vassar, a college student must be allowed to register to vote and allowed to cast a ballot in the polling precinct without impediment or intimidation.
Historical and institutional memory matter here. Many college students may not be aware that up until 2004, you were not allowed to register to vote in Dutchess County because you were not considered to be a full member of this community. This meant that students were asked to complete lengthy questionnaires, the equivalent of literacy tests administered during the Jim Crow era in the South, to determine residency. Students were denied the right to register on the basis of “length of residence” or “number of months spent away from Dutchess County.”
Bard and Vassar students actually led the protest against these unconstitutional practices in 2004, ultimately leading to a change in New York State law granting college students the right to vote where they go to school.
Because this story does not get told, every four years students are caught off guard by challenges to their legitimacy as citizens and residents in the Town of Poughkeepsie. They get caught up in the debate of whether or not college students should get involved in local politics, and miss the chance to register and to cast their ballots locally.
Voting@Vassar, a new dedicated website for the Vassar community, gives students information they need to be informed citizens of Dutchess County. It will be kept updated with information about elections, voter registration deadlines, absentee ballot information, “Boost your Local I.Q.,” frequently asked questions about getting involved, and a host of information about campaigns and initiatives that matter to the Vassar community. It is also a place to send comments and questions that you have about Dutchess County and Town of Poughkeepsie issues.
Hopefully, with Voting@Vassar, students will be better able to determine for themselves whether or not they should get involved. But more importantly, students will have everything that they need to exercise their right to vote.
Sarita McCoy Gregory teaches in the department of Political Science at Vassar College. She can be reached at sagregory@vassar.edu.
