[EL] College Student Voter Suppression

[Sean Parnell]

I think if this qualifies as 'vote suppression' then the term has been
stretched so far as to be devoid of any real meaning.

 

Sean Parnell

President

Impact Policy Management, LLC

6411 Caleb Court

Alexandria, VA  22315

571-289-1374 (c)

sean at impactpolicymanagement.com

 

From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu
[mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of J.H.
Snider
Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2014 9:34 PM
To: law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
Subject: [EL] College Student Voter Suppression

 


My son, a rising sophomore at Yale College who is attending an intensive
foreign language summer program out-of-state, recently called home with a
most surprising problem.  Excited that at age 19 he is finally able to vote,
he had diligently signed up with the Maryland Board of Elections to vote by
absentee ballot for Maryland's statewide June 24 primary.  Since, according
to my son, the Maryland Board of Elections no longer mails physical ballots,
he received an electronic ballot which he was instructed to print out, fill
out, place in an envelope, address, and mail back.  Sounds simple enough,
right?  Well, it turns out my son, like many people his age, had rarely
mailed an envelope before-a skill most people of older generations master in
the third grade.  He not only wasn't entirely sure about how to address an
envelope, but he certainly didn't have either an envelope or a stamp on hand
in the one bedroom apartment he's renting for the month.  He also didn't
have a printer to print out the ballot, since he generally walks a few
blocks to the library to print out papers.  He originally thought that today
was the deadline for voting by absentee ballot, but he turned out to be
wrong on that, so it is possible he'll learn between now and election day
how to use the United States Postal Service. But he has three major tests
next week, so he just may not bother.
 
Now this is a technologically sophisticated and (we thought) reasonably
intelligent and motivated young man.  He sends thousands of text messages a
month and has been using email regularly since grade school.  He spends
hours a day using his iPhone, iPad and MacBook Air, and I'd classify him as
an expert user of some very sophisticated software programs.  But mailing an
envelope?  He thinks that is a skill with as much use to him as reading
cursive handwriting, paper maps, and analog clocks-all things, again, that
people used to master long before reaching voting age.  
 
I imagine that us old folks aren't very sympathetic to someone who hasn't
learned a skill we consider absolutely fundamental to adult living.  But you
could also argue that requiring post office literacy represents a new form
of vote suppression.  I suspect that there are many college students similar
to my son and that their number is growing all the time.  It seems to me
that Maryland should do one of two things: allow my son to order an
old-fashioned absentee ballot with a return envelope and hopefully return
postage, or complete the transition to electronic voting.  Since the latter
seems politically impossible in Maryland, the former would appear to be the
only feasible method to eliminate this type of college student vote
suppression. Alternatively, those who want to encourage college students to
vote might want to set up shop on campuses and hand out envelopes and stamps
the way they already escort certain disabled groups of voters to the polls.
 
If someone thinks this analysis is faulty, please let me know.

 

--J.H. ("Jim") Snider, Ph.D.

President of  <http://www.isolon.org/> iSolon.org 

Administrator of  <http://rhodeislandconcon.info/> RhodeIslandConCon.info

(202) 540-0505

 

For my most recent op-ed on election law, see
<http://www.providencejournal.com/opinion/commentary/20140613-j.h.-snider-an
d-beverly-clay-dark-money-drives-r.i.-constitutional-convention-votes.ece>
'Dark money' drives R.I. constitutional convention votes, Providence
Journal, June 13, 2014.

 

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