Lancaster, Pa. - Two leading voting rights organizations are urging all Pennsylvania counties to follow the law and honor valid student voter registrations ahead of tomorrow’s deadline to register in Pennsylvania. This comes after multiple reports of Lancaster County putting valid student registrations at risk of not being processed in time.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania sent a letter yesterday to Lancaster County following reports of a county election official preventing otherwise eligible voters from registering to vote by giving voters incorrect information about the process, resulting in the failure of voters to be registered. The reports involve students and faculty attempting to register who attend or work at Franklin and Marshall College.
“In 1979, the Supreme Court affirmed the right of college students to register to vote where they attend school. In Pennsylvania, the requirements are simple: be 18, a U.S. citizen for 30 days, and a resident of the state for 30 days,” said Amy Widestrom, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania. “Every college student meeting these criteria has the constitutional right to vote in Pennsylvania on November 5. Yet, the deputy elections clerk of Lancaster County is spreading misinformation about voter registration that could silence the voices of young voters. We must hold officials accountable and ensure every student’s vote is protected—because voter suppression in any form undermines the democratic process.”
“Please accept this letter as a request to stop providing inaccurate information to voters and to stop preventing voters from registering,” stated the letter from the ACLU of Pa., signed by Legal Director Witold Walczak and Senior Policy Counsel for Voting Rights Marian Schneider.. “In addition, to the extent that the board has denied voter registration to any otherwise eligible voter on these grounds, or if the board is refusing to process registrations until the voter ‘proves’ they have canceled their registration in another state, the board must immediately process those registrations and accept them, if they are otherwise valid. To the extent that the board has turned away potential voters, it must reach out and offer voters who were turned away an opportunity to register by Monday’s deadline.”
Eligible residents of Pennsylvania have until the end of the day tomorrow, Monday, October 21, to register to vote or update their existing registrations.
Background:
Pennsylvania law does not contain any requirement that a voter “deregister” in a prior state before registering in Pennsylvania. Of course, a voter may only cast a ballot in one location at any given time. However, voters may—and routinely do—register after moving to a new state without first canceling their prior registration at their former voting residence. Moreover, under the National Voter Registration Act, counties must “ensure that any eligible applicant is registered to vote in an election” so long as officials receive their valid voter registration form before the registration deadline.
Pennsylvania law specifically allows students to register in the location they are living while studying in Pennsylvania. See 4 Pa. Code § 183.3(4). Advising students of the false additional step of canceling any prior registration and providing proof of the cancellation prevents them from lawfully registering in Pennsylvania.
It is not a requirement that a voter have a Pennsylvania driver’s license to register to vote. Many Pennsylvania voters do not have one, and that is why providing the last four digits of their Social Security Number is acceptable proof of identification at the voter registration stage. Advising voters that they must have a Pennsylvania driver’s license violates both federal and state law.
