[EL] residency and state ID laws for military and students

[Alysoun McLaughlin]

Doug,

Yes. Proof of residency is a conceptually different issue from proof of identity.

Here in the District of Columbia, for example, we don't have a general ID requirement (except for the HAVA requirement for first-time voters who registered by mail), but we do require proof of residence for same-day registration.

By definition, in the latter case, you are registering in person, so we don't need you to prove that you are the same person as the registrant. We do, however, require you to prove that you are a resident of the District of Columbia. A passport doesn't prove that you are a District resident, rather than a Maryland or Virginia resident.

It also helps make sure you receive the correct ballot style. In a general election, we have 286 advisory neighborhood commission contests on the ballot, with sometimes as many as eight different ballot styles in a single precinct. Two different students living in the dorms on the same campus may be eligible to vote a different ballot depending on which dorm building they live in (American University, for example, is split). We don't require a photo ID, but we do require that whatever you show includes your physical address of residence. A student ID won't do that, but we will take a printout from the student housing office.

Alysoun McLaughlin
Public Affairs Manager
District of Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics
441 4th St. NW Suite 250 N
Washington, DC 20001
email: amclaughlin at dcboee.org
Website:www.dcboee.org
Phone: 202-727-2511
Cell: 202-441-1121
Twitter: @DCBOEE




From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of Doug Hess
Sent: Monday, August 29, 2011 3:28 PM
To: Election Law
Subject: [EL] residency and state ID laws for military and students


If you have a government-issued ID from State A but you wish to vote in State B where you are currently residing (e.g., college students, staff that are seconded to a state for a lenghty period, service members), are some state ID laws written such that they will not accept as proof IDs from other states? I.e., are they specifically asking for IDs from that state?

(I guess this may not apply to military who may have a drivers ID for their home state but a military ID with their current location on it).

Doug
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