Students at the University of Virginia help eligible voters register to vote in Charlottesville, Va., in 2024. Ryan M. Kelly/AP hide caption
Ryan M. Kelly/AP
Many student voters studying outside their hometown face a key decision before they even get a ballot: Should they register to vote where they go to school?
A Supreme Court ruling in 1979 affirmed the right of eligible students to register in the communities where they live during the academic year. But close to a half-century later, some people continue to question why students can vote in their college towns.
That issue resurfaced in discussions about changes Montana made last year to its requirements for residents who want to register to vote. After a student advocacy group sued, a state judge blocked the new restriction for now. That leaves the previous rules in place for Montana students who want to register to vote, including for the midterm elections through Election Day.
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Now, as the wait continues for the judge's final ruling, some experts on student voting see the case as a reminder of common misunderstandings about the rights of some of the country's youngest voters.
Why out-of-state college students are like owners of multiple homes
Voting in the U.S. is tied to residency, and state and local governments determine who qualifies as a resident who can register.
To make sure certain voters, such as eligible students, are not discriminated against, federal law sets ground rules for residency requirements, explains Michael Hanmer, a professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland, whose research has focused on student voters.
"You can't apply different standards to different groups of people, so college students need to be treated the same as anybody else in the mix here who might be new to a particular place," Hanmer says.
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All eligible voters have a right to cast a ballot somewhere. And like owners of multiple homes, many students are able to choose which of their residences to be that somewhere for registering to vote. In the legal world, it's known as their "domicile."
"It's defined as the one singular, fixed, permanent, principal home where one intends to return, although she may not currently reside there," explains Yael Bromberg, an attorney who co-edited the book Youth Voting Rights: Civil Rights, the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, and the Fight for American Democracy on College Campuses. "In the case of a student who may not know where she might live after graduation, that determination of domicile is highly personal and an individualized assessment."
How Montana's new law could stop thousands of eligible students from voting
In Montana, a U.S. citizen who is 18 or older and has been a state resident for at least 30 days is generally eligible to register to vote there.
Last year, Montana's Republican-controlled legislature passed a new restriction for "temporary" residents in an "educational program." Under the revised state law, they could only register in a Montana county if they intend to make the county or the state their permanent home at the end of their program.
GOP state officials argue that restriction does not apply to students at colleges and universities in Montana. That interpretation, they claim in a court filing, "would render the word 'temporary' meaningless, because no one understands obtaining a two, four, or eight-year degree as a temporary endeavor."
So far, Missoula County Judge Jason Marks is not buying that argument. In February, he found the restriction against student voters likely violates Montana's constitution.
After holding a hearing this month, Marks is now preparing his final ruling for the lawsuit brought by student advocates at the Montana Public Interest Research Group. MontPIRG claims the change to Montana's residency rule could force thousands of students to lose the ability to have a say at the ballot box about how their communities are run.
Why out-of-state student voters should be aware of other state requirements
At a public hearing last year, some of the restriction's supporters said student voters from outside Montana should not be able to affect the state's elections.
But Hanmer at the University of Maryland doesn't see Montana's law clearing legal hurdles.
"I would be surprised if this attempt to restrict students from voting if they're in Montana just for educational purposes holds up," he says.
Still, Hanmer points out student voters who do have the right to choose where to register should keep in mind that, in some states, that choice may come with other requirements.
"If they want to follow through and vote in that new state, then they might have to engage in some additional activities that could be costly in terms of their time," Hanmer says. Certain states require a new resident to, for example, get a new state ID or change their car registration. "They can impose these restrictions," Hanmer adds, "but they impose them on all new residents, not just college students."
Edited by Benjamin Swasey
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