Should College Students be allowed to vote where they attend college

[Urbane Guerrilla]

Shouldn't the term "if any" be inserted after "tourists?"

[TheMercenary]

I don't think so. Tourist areas are like areas that have college students. Some have them, some do not. The US has become a hot tourist destination as the dollar declines in value.

[Urbane Guerrilla]

They send home what they can spare. Of late, that's less.

Some bloggage.

From New America Media.

[Sundae]

From here: History Learning Site

Though it is a generalisation, you are far more likely to vote if you have a middle to large income, are educated to college level and have an occupation that is linked to your education. If this is true even as a generalisation, these voters have an intrinsic reason to keep the system as it is and hence have a good reason to make sure that they vote. Whether this is an acceptable situation is one that is frequently aired by political analysts.

[spudcon]

What happens if a student goes to college in a foreign country? Should those countries allow them to vote there?

[DanaC]

No. They are not citizens of that country. Unless you require your people to become naturalised when they move from state to state the comparison doesn't really hold up.

[Urbane Guerrilla]

Which we don't. Only if you want to vote where you've moved to, you need to register with the local department of elections. A one-page form, no fees. Says you live there, allows for declaration of your party persuasion, or even none at all.

[DanaC]

That's something I have never really understood about American politics, the declared support for one or another party. How does that work? It is separate from membership of the party is it?

[xoxoxoBruce]

Declaring a party affiliation, or preference, allows you to vote in that party's primary. You don't actually have to be a member of that party.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Declaring a party affiliation, or preference, allows you to vote in that party's primary. You don't actually have to be a member of that party.

Depends on the state. Some you do, some you don't.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

Depends on the state. Some you do, some you don't.

What? You mean in some states you have to pay to vote in the primary?

[DanaC]

Is the register of electors public? I mean, if you declare an affiliation or preference can anybody access that information about you?

[Cicero]

Well Dana, people do access that information for data crunching if you are campaigning. The lists are sold to people in marketing. I do not believe the lists are publicly available on the internet because they are worth good money.

[xoxoxoBruce]

From http://usacm.acm.org/usacm/VRD/

The voter registration process may seem simple to most voters. They give their names, addresses, birth date, and in some cases party affiliations to election officials with the expectation that they will be able to vote on Election Day. In reality, election officials must oversee a complex system managing this process. They must ensure that the voters' information is accurately recorded and maintained, that the system is transparent while voter information is kept private and secure from unauthorized access, and that poll workers can access this information on Election Day to determine whether or not any given voter is eligible. A well-managed voter registration system is vital for ensuring public confidence in elections.

State and local governments have managed voter registration using different approaches among different jurisdictions. In 2002, Congress sought to make these disparate efforts more uniform by passing the Help America Vote Act, which required that each state have a computerized statewide voter registration database. In implementing this mandate, state and local governments still have differing approaches, but it is clear that information technology underpins each of their efforts. While technology will help election officials manage this complex system, it also creates new risks that must be addressed.

This study focuses on five areas that election officials should address when creating statewide voter registration databases (VRDs): accuracy, privacy, usability, security, and reliability. Each chapter contains detailed discussions and recommendations. The following are some of the overarching goals for VRDs and selected recommendations for achieving them.

In some areas they are online, but most are not.

[wolf]

I have done it both ways ... in my first election as a college student, I remained registered at home, and sent in a write-in ballot (voting, incidentally, for Independent candidate, John Anderson of Illinois). In the years following that, I registered at my college dorm address, because of the potential effect that the town elections had on the campus ... and because I hated E.Z. Taylor and needed to vote against her.