House Republicans are pushing a higher education bill that scraps requirements for colleges and universities to alert students to register to vote. As part of legislation rewriting the laws governing colleges and universities, Republicans left out provisions added in 1998 and 2008 to ensure that schools make a good-faith effort to distribute voter registration forms to students enrolled at their institutions. The House Education and the Workforce Committee approved the bill late Tuesday in a 23-17 party-line vote that largely went under the radar. It would nix language requiring that schools request voter registration forms from their state at least 120 days before the voter registration deadline, and send students an “electronic communication” exclusively about voter registration.
It also eliminates language specifying schools are required to follow these requirements for general and special federal elections, state gubernatorial elections and elections for chief executives within the state.
The proposed legislation, known as the Promoting Real Opportunity, Success and Prosperity through Education Reform (PROSPER) Act, only says that schools must “make a good faith effort to distribute, including through electronic transmission, voter registration forms to students enrolled and physically in attendance at the institution.’’
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) offered an amendment to reinstate the requirements during the committee vote, but Republicans rejected it.
Full Article: GOP bill scraps voter registration requirements for colleges | TheHill.