Voting 101
Colin Kavanaugh
The Daily Pennsylvanian published an article today about the VOTER Act of 2009. The bill, proposed in the Senate by Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin (D) and in the House by Illinois Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D) and Ohio Rep. Steven LaTourette (R), would allow students to register to vote while registering for classes.
The implementation of the bill rests with the individual colleges and universities, but the point is to utilize what has been a sleeping giant: college-aged voters and campus volunteer mobilization. Some of these efforts are already being done independently on college campuses. I remember an article on Berkeley’s placement of registration forms in every new freshman’s mailbox.
At its best, the bill represents an attempt to bring students, often disenfranchised by the political process, into the voting population more effectively. At its worst, it represents politicking by friendly Illinois Obama allies to institutionalize the Obama campaign’s modus operandi. And you’re kidding yourself if you think the White House wasn’t behind its introduction in some form or another.
Practically speaking, however, I fear this is a bane to actual electioneering on college campuses. The bill puts registration into the hands of universities, which may or may not conduct the process effectively. Few students know the intricacies of election law protecting a voter’s party preference from disclosure. Would a liberal student on a very conservative campus feel comfortable registering to vote and then handing the forms over to university officials?
Moreover, universities are often bureaucratic nightmares. Penn Dems are well-trained to get registration forms to the county election office, and even they sometimes lose some registration applications. Most universities, I’m sure Penn included, would place the responsibility in pre-existing registration groups (like Penn Leads the Vote). But what if some didn’t? Am I to believe my right to vote rests safely in the hands of a campus official?
Ultimately, voter protection can be a greater necessity than voter mobilization. Certainly, however, the risk is equally high under the current system as a Republican campaign would hardly feel confident registering voters on a liberal campus—and this legislation would at least put registration in the hands of a “neutral” authority.
I would add, what difference does registering to vote right when one sets foot on campus (or maybe even before, if the form is mailed to students with the course listings) make on party identification? In other words, do political leanings change in the first few months of college due to exposure to (presumed) increased diversity, culture of intellectualism, personal freedom, etc? Or maybe the party affiliation would correlate less with the parents’ political preference? I don’t think either is out of the question.
That’s not to say that issue positions don’t change over time in any situation; they certainly do. But the move to college is the largest lifestyle and culture change in the shortest period of time that most people will experience.