National: Outdated and Failing: Modernizing Our Voting System for the Rising Electorate | Rock the Vote Blog

Day after day, from college campuses to high school classrooms, we hear stories about needless bureaucratic barriers that prevent young people from voting. For young Americans, the greatest barrier to participation is the out-dated process itself. Our complicated registration process varies state-by-state, and our country’s antiquated, paper-based electoral system is riddled with restrictive rules and red tape that don’t reflect advances in technology or meet the needs of modern life.

You’d think that the most basic element of our democracy – the very right to participate in our government that is guaranteed to all of us – would be something we would constantly work to improve. Yet somehow voting is an archaic ordeal, inconsistently implemented from place to place, and disturbingly, manipulated by whether people in power want someone like you to show up at the polls.

It doesn’t need to be this hard to vote.

National: Students in Crossfire in Battles Over Voting Rights | Brennan Center for Justice

Voting is a fundamental right for all American citizens over 18.  Some states -- including Arizona and New York -- have prioritized voting rights, with student engagement policies that should serve as models for other states.  Yet even as we should be encouraging the next generation to be civically engaged, in many states students are being targeted by bills that make it harder to register and to vote.

In the current legislative cycle, a majority of state legislatures have explored increasingly restrictive voter ID legislation.  College students are particularly impacted by many of these voter identification proposals, especially when student IDs do not qualify as photo identification for voting.  But even more disturbing is a new trend of bills that seek to explicitly make voting more difficult for college students.  The most notable recent example was New Hampshire House Bill 176, which would have created a special voter residency standard for students and members of the military who lived elsewhere—including elsewhere in the state—prior to matriculating or being stationed in New Hampshire, thereby preventing students from voting in state or local elections.  The Brennan Center forcefully opposed this bill, and argued that it would likely be unconstitutional.  Fortunately, after college students of all political stripes banded together to voice their opposition, the bill died on the House floor.

Editorials: Identification: More troubling than you might think | Michael Casiano/The Diamondback

In February 2010, one of my roommates had the misfortune of hearing that his basement had flooded. In it, his parents had stored many of his personal legal documents, including his birth certificate and Social Security card. After successfully getting a job, he was required to present his employer with multiple forms of identification.

Possessing only a driver's license, he had to send away for the other supporting documentation. It's easy enough for an American citizen to do so, not factoring in the time, money and hassle of getting the documents. In the time being, however, we all joked, "You're illegal!"

Missouri: Students Offer a Unique Perspective on New Voter Legislation | KMOV.com

Students and young voters at Saint Louis University are providing fresh opinions about two new bills passed by Missouri legislators last month that may require voters to present Missouri photo identification at the polling place.

“Obviously, no one sponsoring it is going to say it, but I think [the legislation] disenfranchises blocks of voters who traditionally vote for Democrats or liberals: the college students, the poor, the elderly,” said Patrick Grillot, a SLU student and co-founder of SLU Students for Voters’ Rights.

The bills, SB3 and SJR2, allow a referendum to be placed on the November 2012 election ballot. The referendum will ask voters whether or not to amend the Missouri Constitution to require state photo identification to vote in Missouri elections. Supporters say these bills aim to prevent voter fraud at the polling place; however, the Missouri secretary of state has not reported incidents of voter fraud at Missouri polling places in the past.

Editorials: Our view: Walker signing law we don’t need | LaCrosse Tribune

With the stroke of a pen today, Gov. Scott Walker will officially solve a problem that we don’t have. If you listen to Walker and some fellow governors, they’re protecting the integrity of elections and preventing voter fraud.

If you ask most everyone else, it’s a slick way of making it more difficult for people to vote — especially people who are less likely to vote for Walker and his Republican colleagues.

National: Gingrich Calls For Young Americans To Pass Test Before They Can Vote | Hispanically Speaking News

Last week, former GOP House Speaker and current presidential candidate Newt Gingrich suggested that American citizens should have to pass a test in American history before they could earn the right to vote. Despite rampant criticism from both sides of the aisle, Gingrich reiterated his support for poll tests yesterday at a town hall meeting in Marshalltown, IA.

Speaking in front of a crowd made up largely of senior citizens, Gingrich reiterated his argument that since immigrants need to pass a test to become American citizens, “young Americans” should be forced to do the same “before they start voting.” A majority of the crowd seemed to approve, giving Gingrich resounding applause.

Wisconsin: College students could be affected by Wisconsin Voter ID Bill | weau.com

A few college students we talked to at UW-Eau Claire say they haven’t heard much about the Voter ID Bill, but they say at face value, it sounds like a good idea.

“I think it’s probably a good thing, to at least show that you are who you say you are instead of having someone representing you or falsifying you and stealing your vote,” says new UW-Eau Claire transfer student Eric Wisz.

The bill would require each voter to show a valid photo ID with their current address on it. “That I don’t actually have,” says Wisz. “I think it could make it difficult, especially for college students and those who move a lot.”

Wisconsin: Senate passes Wisconsin voter ID bill, sends to Walker | Wisconsin Law Journal

The state Senate gave final legislative approval to a bill that would require Wisconsin voters to show photo identification during a ragged session Thursday, clearing the way for Gov. Scott Walker to sign the measure into law next week.

Assembly Republicans passed the measure in a late-night session last week. Republicans who control the Senate brought the bill up for debate on Tuesday. Democrats railed against it into the early morning hours on Wednesday, finally using a procedural maneuver to delay the final vote until Thursday.

Wisconsin: Wisconsin Assembly approves voter ID, sends bill to Senate | JSOnline

The Assembly late Wednesday approved requiring people to show photo ID at the polls, putting the measure on a fast track to becoming law. The Senate is expected to sign off on the plan Tuesday. The move comes when drivers are about to have to present more documentation to get their licenses and wait longer to get them.

The Assembly passed the bill 60-35 amid shouts from a small group of protesters in the viewing gallery. “Welcome to Wisconsin, Jim Crow!” one of them shouted. The Republican-run Assembly quickly adjourned as the protesters chanted “Shame!” and were led out of the gallery by police officers.

Florida: Proposed bills would make voting harder for many Floridians | Sun Sentinel

College students seeking to vote at their campus precinct will find it harder to do. So will women who’ve changed their name but not re-registered before an election. The time for early voting would be cut from 14 days to six.

Groups like the League of Women Voters will find it tougher to register voters. And citizens attempting to amend the constitution will have to gather more than 600,000 signatures in two years instead of four.

National: In states, parties clash over voting laws that would affect college students, others | Washington Post

New Hampshire’s new Republican state House speaker is pretty clear about what he thinks of college kids and how they vote. They’re “foolish,” Speaker William O’Brien said in a recent speech to a tea party group. “Voting as a liberal. That’s what kids do,” he added, his comments taped by a state Democratic Party staffer and posted on YouTube.

Students lack “life experience,” and “they just vote their feelings.” New Hampshire House Republicans are pushing for new laws that would prohibit many college students from voting in the state – and effectively keep some from voting at all.

New Hampshire: NH: Students decry residency voting bill | NashuaTelegraph.com

A bill to strip college students of the right to vote conforms with the Founding Fathers’ view of domicile, its lone sponsor argued Thursday. Rep. Gregory Sorg, R-Easton, said he merely wants to return residency for voting to where you came from and not where you’re attending school.

“This doesn’t take away the right to vote for anyone,” Sorg insisted. “This says you vote where you reside, and you don’t vote where you happen to spend a few years of your time but have a domicile somewhere else.”