About Those 'Student' Voting Rights
Why Do They Get More Rights Than We Do?
I’m not sure if your state has been polluted with this nonsense (yet), but for far too long, New Hampshire has had a differentiated designation for residency for voting purposes. If you are here and feel like you're here and want to vote like you live here, you just need to produce an ID or a document with a local address that has your name on it.
The most offensive of these allowances is Student ID. You can use your college identification if it has your New Hampshire dorm address as proof of residency for voting purposes. Were you paying out-of-state tuition? That is no problem. You can vote in our elections if the ID connects your name and picture to a physical address in New Hampshire.
Even if it is an office or storefront or if you share it with 40 people (no one will check).
It has been decades since we’ve known for certain who actual Granite Staters wanted in any number of House and Senate races (State or federal), especially if the outcome was close.
Anyone who dares to challenge this tick in state Election law is accused of violating or trying to violate “student voting rights.” Funny thing about that. Students matriculating in New Hampshire have more rights than actual residents.
They can vote here OR from the address on the bill the college sends to their home in some other state—the one where the IRS would send their tax refund. It’s the same address on their driver’s license. If the election seems close there, they can vote there, or they can vote here.
They can vote absentee, by mail, or in person, but if you insist they do that instead of voting in New Hampshire, you hate students and are abolishing their right to vote.
I can’t vote in person, absentee, or by mail from the address on their tuition bill or driver’s license. It seems that they do, in fact, have more voting rights than I do.
Paid and volunteer political activists who travel between campaigns and states have similar rights. I like to call it Democrat Privilege. If you’re not in the state you are from, vote in New Hampshire.
The people policing such things don’t seem to care about this injustice. Multiple court cases have produced no joy. Aside from a meaningless affidavit swearing the would-be voter intends to live here (Really, I do!) or another where they promise to provide proof of residency within several days after the election, both of which would need to be enforced and are not - there has been no action to stop the ballot box stuffing that may occur every year but mostly every two years, during Federal Elections.
A recent law signed by Governor Sununu requires proof of citizenship which is the least-biggest illegal voting problem we have. Sure, that might get worse with the rise in illegals wandering the increasingly fruitless plain. And the Democrats who file a lawsuit against it will have to explain how that doesn't mean they DO WANT ILLEGALS TO VOTE. But if you are interested in election integrity and protecting the voices of actual Granite Staters, the out-of-state student voting problem is the issue that would make the most impact.
Maybe someone can make the case I’ve made here and repeatedly elsewhere, in a court, or the machine media, or in Reps Hall debating another voter ID bill or some update to the state's election laws. We have more than a few holes that need patching, like how we secure completed ballots, including the ones cast by out-of-state students.
Someone should do something about it, but after nearly two decades of paying attention and a good bit of bitching, by many people and outlets, they are still stealing our votes in every election.
They still have more voting rights than we do. And this is not an injustice because they overwhelmingly vote Democrat.