College students have a harder time registering to vote than other eligible voters, partially because of confusion over whether they can claim residency in the location of their schools.
"Some states make it very difficult for students to vote," said Lisa Arakaki, assistant director of Special Events at AU. Her office sponsored a campus barbecue and voter registration drive during Welcome Week, which drew about 100 students to register.
After checking the election laws of 15 states, Arakaki found that some forms combine voter registration and absentee ballot applications primarily for military personnel. The correct form, a universal registration without absentee ballot form, will be distributed during upcoming events.
AU College Republicans President Mike Inganamort said, "We're looking to get absentee ballots, which are the most important and easily forgotten part of the election process, for our club's membership."
AU's Web site states that a voter registration form is available in every residence hall and online from the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics Web site. However, an informal inspection revealed that the forms are not available in any residence hall, Bender Library or offices for Student Activities or the Registrar.
Officials in Housing and Dining Services could not explain the discrepancy, but Assistant Dean of Students Sara Waldron said she was unaware of the matter and would look into it.
The legal resource FindLaw.com says the U.S. Supreme Court, in the 1979 decision Symms vs. U.S., upheld a lower court's ruling that college students are entitled to vote from their residence at school.
When the Higher Education Act of 1965 was reauthorized by Congress in 1998, a new provision stated that "institutions will make a good-faith effort to distribute mail voter registration forms to each student enrolled ... and to make such forms widely available to students." Schools are expected to comply with the guidelines "in good faith," but there is no penalty for non-compliance.
A 2003 survey by the New Voters Project, spearheaded by Pew Research Center, George Washington University and State Public Interest Groups, showed that 89 percent of colleges make some effort to distribute voter registration forms to students. Only 37 percent provide the forms on campus and 17 percent provide a link to the form on their Web sites.
AU College Democrats President Greg Wasserstrom lamented AU's registration efforts.
"If the administration would make voter registration a larger priority, it is my belief that students here would take it more seriously as well," he said. The club, as well as the AU College Republicans, plans to help register students at upcoming events.
District Board of Elections employees said AU students will be allowed to register and vote in local D.C. elections. There is no required length of time a student must live in D.C. to be a District resident.
Absentee ballots, which allow people to vote by mail when they cannot do so in person, are not required for out-of-state student-residents. Students who are registered in their home states must either switch their voter registration to D.C. or vote via absentee ballot.
Campus groups are helping to secure the state-specific ballots, which are often online.
AU is not the only university to face registration problems. Students at other colleges have faced more hurdles, according to Rock the Vote, a non-partisan group that works to increase voter turnout among young Americans.
According to the group's Web site, students at Prairie View A&M University in Prairie View, Texas, were threatened with prosecution for fraud if they tried to register as Prairie View residents last November. This February, Greg Abbott, the state attorney general, ruled in favor of the students, allowing them to register and vote in Texas's Waller County, where the University is located.
In Brunswick, Maine, the town registrar reportedly asked Bowdoin College students misleading questions about their residency, according to a Rock the Vote press release.
"Students were informed that if they registered in the county of their college or university that they would risk losing financial aid, healthcare, driver's license or car registration," Rock the Vote said.
After tremendous student uproar, Bowdoin students are now allowed to register without penalty.
At AU, a major registration drive will occur Sept. 20-24, during Civitas Week. Waldron said she hopes many students will register at tables set up in the Quad.
"We want people to register in their parties," said Student Confederation President Polson Kanneth said. "But, really, we just want everyone to vote."
Voter registration deadlines for different states vary and are generally about 30 days before an election. The District allows residents to register until Oct. 4. Forms are available at www.dcboee.org, public libraries, fire stations and police precincts.
