The real way to win the future

In recent years, young voters have turned out to the polls in greater numbers. In 2008, more young voters cast a ballot than in any election since 1972 (the first election when 18 year-olds had the right to vote). This increase in participation should mark an exciting time for our nation, but unfortunately, not everyone is celebrating these results. In fact, in some states there is an active effort to disenfranchise young voters by creating new hurdles and changing existing laws that once made voting easier for young people.

The Missouri Senate has approved a voter ID bill and change to the state constitution. The Wisconsin Senate has temporarily stalled a voter ID bill, but expects to pass it as soon as the Democrats return. Pennsylvania and North Carolina are both considering photo ID bills. Pennsylvania has passed similar legislation before, only to have it vetoed by Democratic Governor Ed Rendell, a backstop no longer available. In North Carolina, where over 500,000 currently registered voters do not have drivers’ licenses, the legislature is moving forward with a photo ID bill that targets people without government issued IDs, including students with only college IDs, in turn creating an expensive and inadequately funded government ID program at a time of budgetary constraint.

Instead of moving forward with needed reforms, such as online voter registration and same day registration, we are regressing. Only once every four years do most citizens think about our voting system, questioning why it isn’t easier, more modern, and more inclusive of all adult citizens. Yet state laws are being proposed that target young people, making it harder for them to vote. Young people are not willing to accept this discrimination and are banding together to fight back against this war on youth voting. Students and young voters in Wisconsin, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Colorado, Iowa, and Maine, among other states, are battling voter laws that will make it harder for them to voice their opinions.

There is some good news, though. In New Hampshire, a multi-partisan coalition of students worked together to defeat a bill that would have forced them to vote in the state where they lived before attending college, despite the fact that many of the students live where they go to school for a significantly longer portion of the year. It was clear that this bill was directly attacking young voters’ rights.

The New Hampshire legislature also backed down on a proposal that would have crippled the ability for young people to participate, voting 18-0 to shelve legislation eliminating Election Day registration. In Colorado, a Senate committee voted to postpone a restrictive voter ID bill indefinitely after the state House of Representatives passed its version of the bill.

We want states to move forward into the 21st century, and we will not stand for attempts to take us back to the 19th century. Politicians on both sides of the aisle should be working to earn the votes of young people and make it possible for those votes to be cast, not blocking pathways to participation.

Heather Smith is President of Rock the Vote.