In New York, some students remain disenfranchised ahead of the 2024 election, with 20 New York campuses lacking polling sites, according to the New York State Board of Elections.
This remains the case over two years after New York passed a bill charging local boards of election with the responsibility of designating polling sites on or adjacent to campuses with 300 or more registered voters.
In May, the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) and civic groups sent a letter to the Board of Elections (BOE) requesting voter registration data on college campuses to understand if the BOE had complied with the April 2022 law. The letter included a survey conducted by NYPIRG that analyzed 217 college campuses for polling places.
The New York State BOE earlier this month issued a response to this letter and a series of follow-ups sent by NYPIRG and other civic groups requesting data on voter registration on college campuses, revealing the 20 campuses lacking polling sites.
“As you know, in New York State, students have the option to register at their college campus address or remain registered at their home address,” the response read. “Our data indicates that many students do not register at their dormitory or other college campus address, and instead opt to remain registered at home.”
Campus polling places are critical to student enfranchisement. Most college students lack adequate transportation to off-campus polling locations, adding an extra barrier to a historically disenfranchised voter demographic. More than 50 years since the 26th Amendment passed granting 18-year-olds the right to vote, young adults remain among the lowest propensity voters out of all age groups.
With many of the country’s most competitive congressional races situated in New York State, all eyes will be on the state’s tightest races to decide the fate of the House. College students could tip the vote in either direction as numerous college campuses are situated within these close congressional races.
Some voting advocacy groups say universities must play a greater role in motivating students to vote, especially those with fewer than 300 registered voters.
“The Board of Elections’ response seems to raise more questions for us than it answers,” said Chris Bottini, the Democracy Campaign Coordinator for NYPIRG, referring to the low voter registration statistics released by the BOE. Bottini said questions as to how schools are registering students to vote on campus and whether they inform students about using their campus or home address to vote remain unanswered less than a week out from the election.
The 2022 state law has earned some campuses polling sites. Pace University — a campus with more than 14,000 students — earned a polling place last April for the first time ever thanks to efforts from the Andrew Goodman Foundation, an organization focused on enfranchising young voters.
“Students no longer have to walk a significant amount or take a subway to a polling location. They’re able to do that right on their campus,” said Rashawn Davis, executive director of the Andrew Goodman Foundation.
Voting advocacy groups suspect that colleges and universities’ lukewarm efforts to enfranchise students may have self-interested motives.
“Some [colleges and universities] don’t want to disrupt local power structures because they’re scared that if a lot of students vote, they’ll alienate towns who approve building and things like that,” said Jonathan Becker, vice president for academic affairs and the director of the Center for Civic Engagement at Bard College in Dutchess County. Becker suggested that the lack of voting resources on college campuses — including efforts to raise awareness about voting options for students — may be a deliberate decision by college administrators.
This low effort by universities is not unprecedented.
Becker recalled the student effort in 2000 to gain the right to vote from campus addresses. The Dutchess County Board of Elections denied the right to vote to students at Bard and Vassar during the 1996 election. The BOE claimed students were not residents of the county and created outlandish barriers to vote, such as sending a questionnaire to student voters to prove their residency in the county, asking students for their bank account addresses and summer vacation plans, among other questions.
Bard and Vassar college students ran a campaign to win the right to vote in the county, threatening to sue the Dutchess County Board of Elections. The county legislature responded by reinstating the right of college students to vote from campus.
Bard College is a private institution, meaning a polling site isn’t required on campus according to state law. But the institution sued the Dutchess County Board of Elections for voter suppression and won access to a polling site in 2020 and has had one every election since.
Bard is situated in the 18th Congressional District, a battleground House district this election. In 2022, Congressman Pat Ryan (D) won the district by less than a percentage point.
According to Becker, much work remains to be done to improve student voting rights. Becker proposed reforms, like requiring local boards of election to report college registration numbers annually, as this data is critical for determining campus polling site placement. Additionally, Becker suggested establishing unified college addresses, which would reduce confusion about dorm room addresses — an often complicated process that can result in votes being thrown out if students use incorrect addresses or dorm room numbers.
“If university leaders believe that there’s a fundamental link between education and democracy, then university leaders should proactively encourage voting amongst their eligible students,” Becker said.
About the author(s)
Jake Angelo is a freelance reporter and M.S. Candidate at Columbia Journalism School, covering local New York elections and politics.