For immediate release:
October 18, 2006

Contact:
Tina Post, New Voters Project, (312) 291-0349 x 219, tpost@pirg.org (new extension)
Dave Rosenfeld, New Voters Project, (503) 231-4181 x 311, daver@pirg.org
Ben Unger, New Voters Project, (503) 351-8833, bunger@pirg.org

Voter identification laws have been a contentious issue this election cycle, with challenges in at least five state courts. While much of the publicity surrounding the laws has focused on accusations of partisan shenanigans, nonpartisan groups concentrating on mobilizing the youth vote, a portion of the electorate impacted by these laws, have worked to find innovative solutions as cases proceed through court.

In Ohio, the controversial HB-3 causes problems for student voters—although other restrictive voter ID laws have recently been struck down there. HB-3 severely limits acceptable forms of identification at the polls. Many students in Ohio are unable to meet the requirements due to out-of-state drivers licenses and mail that’s addressed to campus post office boxes rather than to physical addresses.

The Ohio Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG)’s New Voters Project is one group helping students to navigate the law. Students working with the New Voters Project at Oberlin College are campaigning for their peers to vote by absentee ballot, thereby circumventing the ID problem. During Ohio’s registration period, students attached absentee ballot request forms to all voter registration forms, allowing students to submit all necessary paperwork at once. In the remaining time before the election, Oberlin students are continuing to drop information about the law around campus, as well as dorm canvassing for absentee ballots.

“We want all students’ votes to count on Election Day, and we want to make sure no one is unable to vote because of the ID law,” explains Rebecca Eiseman, coordinator of the New Voters Project at Oberlin. “We’re trying to make the problem and the viable solution as visible as possible. We’re hoping all Oberlin students will understand what they need in order to vote on November 7th.”

Arizona is another state where new voter ID laws caused problems for student votes. Arizona’s Proposition 200 required potential voters to prove their citizenship when registering to vote as well as requiring restricted forms of identification at the polls. While student groups held “Passport to Voting” days to remind students of the needed ID and provide access to photocopying machines, groups working to register students celebrated the law’s 11th-hour enjoinment a week ago this Thursday past.

“We had to turn potential voters away because they didn’t have passports or other proof of citizenship here with them at school,” said Isaac Kimes, a volunteer with the Arizona Student Vote Coalition. “The change in law was a great opportunity, even though the registration deadline was days away. We did all we could to make sure students were aware that they could register without the identification they needed before.”

In just one of the four days between the circuit court decision and the voter registration deadline, the Arizona Student Vote Coalition registered over 1,000 student voters.

Both the Arizona Student Vote Coalition and the New Voters Project are part of a wider coalition effort to register and turn out student votes to the polls. The nonpartisan effort is being coordinated by Young Voter Strategies and funded by a grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts.


The Student Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs) are non-partisan, student directed, state-based organizations that work to solve public interest problems related to the environment, consumer protection, and government reform. For 30 years, students involved with PIRG chapters on college campuses have had a chance to face up to society's big problems, take action, and win concrete changes that improve the quality of our lives. The goal of the Student PIRGs’ New Voters Project is to increase youth electoral participation and show politicians and opinion leaders that young voters are an important constituency, deserving and demanding of their attention. www.studentpirgs.org

Young Voter Strategies, a project of the Graduate School of Political Management at The George Washington University, with support from The Pew Charitable Trusts, provides the public, parties, candidates, consultants and non-profits with data on the youth vote and tools to effectively mobilize this electorate for upcoming elections.  We are committed to make the targeting of young voters a more permanent part of electoral strategies. www.youngvoterstrategies.org