<p>I searched this forum, but couldn’t find anything discussed re: this question:</p>
<p>Now that my D is 18, I will be strongly encouraging her to participate in our democracy and exercise her right to vote.</p>
<p>But, when she moves out of state to attend college, should she register to vote in the state where her college is located? Or, should she register in our home state?</p>
<p>Recommendations?</p>
<p>I think it’s really up to her. There was a federal court case that mandates that states allow college students to register and vote in the communities where they go to school. She should consider where she feels most connected and where she would be most aware of local issues. Also consider the ease or difficulty in voting by absentee ballot it she registers to vote at home but is always away at school on election day.</p>
<p>In New York, kids can vote at college or at home. I am pleading with our recent grads in our town to please register here and support our local schools.</p>
<p>If she registers at school, she will have to re-register every time she moves (changes dorm room), even if she just moves down the hall. It is much easier to vote - Just show up on election day. However, she may be clueless on the local elections.</p>
<p>If she registers at home, then someone has to be on top of requesting absentee ballots. I presume you can inform her about local races.</p>
<p>Which state is more of a swing state? Her college state, or her home state?</p>
<p>When I was an undergrad, I registered in my home state, Kentucky, as in Massachusetts I was just another drop of blue paint in the liberal bucket. :)</p>
<p>My daughter decided to stay registered in our home town, so that if issues affecting our town or schools were on the ballot, she would have a vote. She used an absentee ballot in the fall.</p>
<p>Yes, I will keep her informed – as she is going to school in same state – it is really local issues that make a difference. She will be going to school in a small college town in a rural area – her vote is needed at home.</p>
<p>As a student, I am registered in the state where I go to college - I was registered at home, but I worked at the polls on Election Day in November. If that’s an opportunity, take it! Great money and an interesting experience (especially during this past election).</p>
<p>This might be a little off topic, but my daughter, who is a junior, was called for jury duty this year. I am not sure if the selection is made from voter registration, or dmv records or what. </p>
<p>Thankfully they excused her, but I have heard of some kids who had their summons postponed, and had to serve during their chistmas/spring/summer breaks, which would be a real drag.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone! Sounds like she has a choice, though neither are swing states (Calif and NY). But registering at home might be best for her (and California sure can use her help right now with her vote on our state financial fiasco!)</p>
<p>Be aware that registering to vote at college can change their residency status at home. What could happen is they’ll be considered a non-resident if they choose to come back and go to a home state public university. Essentially they become non-residents at both locations for in-state tuition purposes. It’s especially bad for Alaska students going out of state because of perks they’ll lose.</p>
<p>I will echo the post about jury duty. My daughter has been called for jury duty several times and they do not excuse college students - she ended up paying a large fine for not serving during midterm exam time. She finally told them that she no longer lived in the state - she basically wanted to be able to vote in the presidential election (we live overseas and she has no drivers license so is not registered anywhere else).</p>
<p>My son’s whole AP govt class went to register to vote his senior year. In hindsight, I see the benefits of being registered at home–schools often do not work out, I love the simplicity of absentee balloting, I think your early-year college kid will still be based at home for a few years if his family is.</p>
<p>That said, if your kid is interested in politics, it sure would be fun to keep up with the new “local” races at his school. Ask her what her interests are and let her decide. Colleges tend to make it easy for kids to register locally if that’s what they choose.</p>
<p>Where a student registers to vote will not change their residency status.</p>
<p>My roommate registered at school (and then unregistered to vote in a local election at home) but her name was added to the jury duty rolls. They wanted her to get to a location about 45 miles outside of the city and she doesn’t have a car so she told them it was a hardship and got out of it.</p>
<p>My 2nd registered at home. My oldest this past presidential election registered out of state. She was just been called for jury duty twice in our home state. She has never been registered to vote in our home state. They must use DMV records. The first jury duty she postponed for summer vacation. This last one she put she is not presently living in the state since she is doing summer school out of state.
I recently filled out an application for my high schooler to take community college classes. I was surprised that the application asked if she had ever registered to vote in another state or applied for a drivers license in another state. Since she is only 14 the questions were not applicable to her but I found them interesting.</p>
<p>They made it easy for dorm and other UW students to vote on /near campus for the Wis primary and last fall’s election- registration was simple and they had voter drives. I suspect the next major election is when most students will care about registering to vote.</p>
<p>registering to vote in another place won’t make you a resident. If it were that easy nobody would be paying out of state tuition.
Your state doesn’t have the time or money to track down students who have registered to vote in other state. You will probably not even be dropped from the voter lists in your old place for 5 to 7 years (I say this as someone who had to face a nosy poll worker/volunteer/“friend” every election for years and be asked about my kids…no, haven’t lived here for years, yes, they have registered and voted in their respective states…)</p>
<p>my son registered at home, and I sent him an absentee ballot last year so he could vote in his very first presidential election. it worked out fine. I have heard some states made it a challenge for college students to vote where they went to school, so if your student wants to register there, check into that…</p>
<p>Dragonmom is right… D1 was appalled this past presidential election at how many kids at college were registered to vote at home, voted early or by absentee ballot, and then registered and voted AGAIN at school. It was commonplace and widespread. D1 said there were a LOT of campaign workers targeting campus, urging the college kids to do exactly that. They didn’t seem to see anything wrong with it.</p>