With COVID-19 restrictions, misinformation and looming deadlines, it can be confusing to know what to do as college students.
LEXINGTON-When college students started classes last month, they brought laptops, iPhones and hand sanitizer to campus. But that wasn’t all. Many also brought their voter registration. For years, people claimed college students didn’t want to vote, that it was pointless for campaigns to target younger residents. But the numbers prove that’s not true.
A study from Tufts University found 45.1 percent of college students voted in the 2012 presidential election. For reference, America had 10.3 million college students that year, according to US Census data. That number rose in 2016, the same study found, climbing to 48.3 percent. Now, with more than 16.6 million undergraduates, a new poll from NextGen America shows more students than ever want to get involved. Specifically, 77% of those who didn’t vote in 2016 plan to cast a ballot this year.
“There is a myth that young people don’t vote,” said Temi Amoye, NextGen’s Virginia director. “Young people are at the forefront of this election and they care deeply about a brighter future for the next generation.”
But voting, especially during a pandemic, brings questions. Can you vote in your college town, even though your permanent address is somewhere else? What do you need to bring to the polls? And then there’s the question of mail-in voting versus physically casting a ballot. With misinformation and changes due to COVID-19, it’s easy to get confused. Here are some tips to help college students in Virginia be sure their ballot gets counted.
How Can I Register To Vote?
It’s easy to get confused with this part, as people will try to tell you college students can’t register to vote in Virginia. That’s simply not true. To clear it up, let’s go straight to the Virginia Board of Elections website.
“A dormitory or college address can be an acceptable residential address and does not disqualify you from voting,” the site says.
Any Virginia college student can register. Your college dorm address or apartment counts as a residence. But there is a deadline. You have to register in person, online or by mail 22 days before the election. For this year’s Election Day, the deadline to register to vote is Tuesday, Oct. 13. Now in case you’re wondering where to register, there are a few options. First, your local public library can help out. That includes the facility on your college campus. Second, you can do it yourself online by clicking this link. Your college town also has a local elections office that can walk you through the process.
Or you can ask some classmates for help. Multiple college groups like JMU’s Madison Society made a point this fall to register students.
“We were only on campus for one week before going virtual, but during that time we were able to table on the quad three different days,” said Sarah Gully, a graduate student at JMU and member of the Society. “We had lots of students stop and ask for more information, request absentee ballots and register to vote for the first time.”
From 2014 to 2018, the number of students registered to vote at JMU increased 300%. It’s something Gully takes pride in.
“College students are on a trend of increasing voter turnout, and candidates would be wise to not discount the college vote,” she said.
Can College Students Qualify For Mail-in Options?
When it comes time to cast a vote and when traveling home isn’t an option, the government allows students to send an absentee ballot if they are still registered in their home state. A student living in Virginia, but from New Hampshire, can still vote with an absentee ballot. This year, absentee voting opens Friday, Sept. 18. Students can request their mail-in ballot with a mail ballot application. After filling out the application completely, the student can submit the request to their local election office. The deadline to request a ballot by mail is Friday, Oct. 23. The local election official must receive the request by 5 p.m. that same day.
Absentee ballots must be returned and completely filled out by 7 p.m. on Election Day to count. COVID-19 did cause one change here. You won’t need to have a witness present while completing your ballot. Once you finish, the ballot can get dropped off, put in the mail or returned in person. For those deciding to mail their ballot, it has to be received by the registrar no later than non on the third day after the election.
How Do I Vote in Person?
Students can also change their residence to the state where they attend college and transfer their voter registration to that state, permitting them to vote in person. Be careful, however. You can’t register to vote in two places.
“We have a saying that we often use for our students ‘Register where you want to vote and vote where you’re registered,'” explained Gully.
After registration and before Election Day, NextGen’s Amoye encourages young voters to do their research, noting that many students don’t realize that you can use your student ID as a form of credentials to vote.
According to the Virginia Department of Elections, students with temporary or permanent addresses in Virginia can show their student ID issued by any community college or university located in the United States at their polling place. Other acceptable documents include a Virginia driver’s license, United States passport, employer-issued photo IDs, or even a copy of a current utility bill containing the voter’s name and address.
There are many important dates to know and proper identification methods for student’s to be aware of before casting a vote. However, the most important thing to remember this year for college students is no matter how you choose to vote, just make sure you do it.
Erica Turman is a freelance writer with Dogwood. During her time in journalism, Turman’s bylines have been in the Waynesboro News Virginian, Franklin News Post and Martinsville Bulletin. Raised in the moonshine capital of the world, Franklin County, she and her husband make their home in Lexington.
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