When polls open this November, college students will have more than one decision to make. Based on where they decide to register as voters, many out-of-state students can control the impact of their choice by voting in either their home state or where they go to college.
With polls showing Massachusetts to be a sure win for John Kerry in November, junior Ellen Kasson will be voting in her home state of Minnesota, which is considered a swing state. "My vote will count more in Minnesota because it's a closer race there than in Massachusetts," she said.
But an August CNN investigation found reports of college towns prohibiting students from voting when they are not permanent residents. In Williamsburg, Va., for example, voter registration boards demanded utility bills and car registrations to prove that students lived in the state. Students who lived in dorms were told they had to vote in their home states on absentee ballots.
Somerville and Medford are more welcoming of student voters. "We would love to see them vote here in Somerville," Somerville Elections Commissioner Nick Salerno said. "Some people do vote here; we put out all the notices we can, but some people prefer to vote where they are from."
Last spring, Medford Senior Voter Registration Clerk Joanne Abbott told The Tufts Daily that if Tufts students "are here and would like to vote, they are welcome to."
In order to vote, students must be 18-years-old, residents of Massachusetts, and U.S. citizens.
Both the Bush and Kerry campaigns have actively courted college-aged voters, a traditionally apathetic voter bloc. Anecdotal evidence suggests the current election season has energized students and young people, however.
Spokespersons for both presidential campaigns said that they had no official policies on whether students should register at their home or college address, and emphasized that a college vote - like any other vote - is important regardless of where it is cast.
"We obviously encourage young voters to go out and vote," Sharon Castillo, a spokeswoman for the Bush-Cheney campaign said. "I think we're encouraging all young people to vote - as long as they are voting, and following all the legal requirements, we welcome any effort to engage all voters to go out and vote."
The Kerry-Edwards campaign, represented by Massachusetts student outreach coordinator Hayley Tozeski, said that individual campus organizations are responsible for voter registration efforts. "Each school is adapting to its own needs," he said.
But some Tufts students prefer to vote in their home states simply for reasons of convenience.
Junior Erin Miller decided to vote in Vermont, her home state, because it was more convenient to register there. "I went to get a driver's license and they asked me if I wanted to register, so I registered [in Vermont]," she said.
Students from college and universities outside of Massachusetts are taking advantage of their situations to make the same sort of political calculations as Tufts students.
Yale sophomore Chase Butler of Massachusetts registered to vote in Connecticut so as to not have to deal with absentee registration. "Both states seem to be going for Kerry anyway, and it's easier to vote close to school," she said.
Junior Melanie Farmer at Davidson College in North Carolina said that she chose to vote in her home state of Florida because of the close 2000 election that took place there. "It's fairly easy but at least in my experience it's very slow," she said of the process. I haven't gotten my registration card and it's been almost three months - but the forms are easy to find and fill out," she said.
A Kennedy School of Government study published in June 2003 found that 59 percent of college students said they would "definitely be voting" in the 2004 election and 27 percent said they would "probably" vote. In 2000, only 32 percent of 18 to 24-year- olds voted.
