Vox - What long voting lines in the US really mean, Or How To Suppress Youth Vote

[TomCADem]

While much has been made of the suppression of minority voters, a less discussed topic is how voter suppression also works to suppress the youth vote. Republicans not only try to reduce polling locations in urban areas, they also try to reduce polling locations near colleges. They know that young often procrastinate are new to voting. So, make voting inconvenient, limit the number of days that a person can vote in person, and just make people stand in line, and you rest assured that many young people will just give up.

https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2020-03-01/some-states-make-it-harder-for-college-students-to-vote

Some States Make It Harder for College Students to Vote

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Vanderbilt University student Will Newell wishes it was easier for college students like him to cast ballots in Tennessee, one of 14 states holding a presidential primary on Super Tuesday.

The campus has no locations for early voting, so students must visit an off-campus polling location to cast a ballot on Election Day. Newell drives but worries that many students who don't have their own transportation won't make it to a precinct. He said some campus groups offer rides to students, but the university itself does not provide a shuttle.

He supports a bill introduced in the Tennessee Legislature that would require early voting locations at large colleges and universities in the state. That's not the only restriction working against college students in the state. Tennessee, where overall voter turnout is low, is among several states that does not allow a college student ID. But it does allow a handgun license.

“It just makes the last part of actually getting them to the polls to vote a lot more difficult," Newell, a senior public policy and economics major, said of the ballot-casting hurdles faced by students in the state.

[Hoyt]

1. It means people are GOTV. Tenn is somewhat restrictive with only a couple weeks

of early voting. I don’t have a citation, but I bet a significant percentage of college voters are registered where their parents live. In any event, for most it’s not that big a burden and the vast majority can vote by mail.

The laws aren’t going to change by Nov 3. Just vote. For most of us it’s not a great burden.

Where it is a burden, know that we appreciate it and you will too in a few years.

[Maraya1969]

2. Until we can fix this we need Obama to tell them to "Stay in line"

[TomCADem]

3. Even Better, Vote As Soon As You Can

A lot of people have a tendency to procrastinate, but that is particularly true for college age folks. It took me a while to break my all-nighter habit.

[comradebillyboy]

4. Seems to me that the "youth vote" suppresses itself...

[TomCADem]

5. Republicans Say The Same About Minorities

As the article I linked notes, Republicans are using some of the same measures to suppress the youth vote that they use to suppress minority votes.

It is not a coincidence that Republicans oppose polling locations near colleges.

[comradebillyboy]

6. Do you define the youth vote as college students?

What about everyone else under 30?

[TomCADem]

7. Many Are Working and Have Young Children...

...so by forcing them to stand in line the whole day is an easy way to suppress their votes. Worse, if you are a single parent and cannot vote absentee, then you just will not be able to stand in line all day if you do not have childcare.