College Students Face 2024 Elections Barriers

By Daryn O’Neal
Howard University News Service

College students away from home may face voting challenges due to new state laws that restrict the use of student IDs as valid identification, and the difficulty some students experience with mail-in-ballots.

Another election season is on the horizon with 8 million young people reaching the age for voter status, but there could be complications that impact these young people who plan to step up to the polls.

States like Texas, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, and Tennessee have enacted regulations that could hinder students’ ability to cast their votes in the upcoming election, according to the New York Times.

Sophomore legal communications major from Atlanta, Cameron Wright said, “For states with strict voter ID laws, there should be free and easy access to necessary identification so voters can be educated on how to obtain additional required documents.”

Out-of-state college students are also facing difficulties regarding this election.

About 60 percent of college students who attend school will likely be on or near campus during the election, according to the Urban Institute. This raises the question of how out-of-state students will be able to vote without having access to their hometown polling station.

“First-time voters who are out of state for college may face several challenges that could impact their ability to vote,” Jencih Manhertz, president of Black Girls Vote said. “Being away from home means they have to navigate an already unfamiliar voting process.”

There are voting options that are available for students such as changing voter registration from one’s hometown to their college address, mail-in ballots or absentee ballots which can be done from home.

Saiida Webb, second vice president of the Howard chapter’s NAACP expressed her thoughts on these options for students.

“Registering to vote and getting an absentee ballot, those are things that take a few minutes. They’re not difficult,” she said. “There’s a lot of websites and organizations dedicated to getting people registered to vote.”

The junior honors political science and African-American studies double major from California also shared that awareness of these options is the main obstacle.

“I think the main issue is getting people educated to even know how to access these resources,” Webb said.

There are other options for college students to vote despite restrictive bills. Some out-of-state Howard students, however, face inconveniences when it comes to executing these options.

In an emailed statement  to The Hilltop, organizer Dionysius Dodwell at HeadCount, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to increasing voter registration, highlighted a concern.

“First-time voters who are out of state don’t know that they can request a mail-in ballot. This information is not readily available to people and they sometimes have to do some digging to find the correct information,” he said.

Like Florida where sophomore sports management major Kaitlin Green is from, mail-in ballots cannot be sent outside of one’s district, so voters in areas similar to Florida must find other means of accessing their ballots.

“When it comes to my mail-in ballot it will be mailed to my house and then my parents will mail it to the school,” Green said.

For students who may not be knowledgeable about voter registration and ballot options, organizations on Howard University’s campus, such as Black Girls Vote, HeadCount, and the NAACP  hold events that teach students how to register to vote, request absentee ballots, and inform them of the proper documentation one must have in order to vote.

“These resources provide comprehensive guidance on the procedural steps necessary for students to cast their votes while residing outside their home state,” Wright said.

To build on this, Manhertz emphasized the importance of collaborative efforts.

“I think by fostering a strong collaboration between administration and student organizations, Howard can ensure that each and every one of their students are informed, equipped, and empowered to vote,” she said.

Copy edited by Camiryn Stepteau