Most Common Voter Registration Myths Exposed
There are only a few weeks left before the midterm elections, and if there is ever time to get involved in the electoral process, it is now. But as of November 2016, only 70 percent of US citizens over the age of 18 were registered to vote , which means more than 65 million people eligible to register haven’t done so.
Some people don’t register simply because they don’t want to vote . But many others (and perhaps you are among them) feel that they cannot or should not register because they are not allowed to do so, or because their registration may be subject to a fee.
Are you really not allowed to vote? Is it true that you can protect yourself without registering? Let’s take a look at some of the common ideas about the registration process and find out.
“I cannot register to vote because I do not have an ID for the state I currently live in.”
You can use your Government ID OR the last four digits of your Social Security number when filling out the Voter Registration Form. To be honest with you, I moved to a new state six months ago and still haven’t bothered to get a new driver’s license. But I registered to vote here as soon as I got the address.
The only difference that matters if you don’t have a state ID is that you may need to bring your federal government-issued ID to the polling stations in order to cast your vote. HeadCount provides a list of which forms of identifier are acceptable for each state survey (and we have a list that includes the requirements for each state ). But your SSN is enough to register.
Bottom line: you don’t need a current government ID to register to vote.
“If I don’t register to vote, I don’t have to serve as a jury.”
In most states, voter registration is one of many rolls used for jury summons. For example, in Texas or New York, you may be summoned to a jury if your name appears on the voter registration list or if you have a state ID; have applied for income tax or unemployment; etc. In these states, once you register to vote, you have no more chance of being sued by jury than just having a driver’s license.
States such as California , Maine and Florida , on the other hand, have completely excluded voter lists from jury trials; they use other lists (such as driver’s licenses and utility lists) to find jurors.
However, this claim is not entirely unfounded. It is true that several states have counties that use voter registration lists solely for jury summons. As far as I can tell, these areLouisiana , Alabama ,South Dakota , East and West Tennessee (but, oddly enough, NOT Mid Tennessee ). If your ultimate goal is to evade jury duty at any cost, you can take a look at your district court’s website to find out exactly how they’ll catch you. (And if you want to go down deep in the rabbit hole of reading the minutiae of your state’s statute on jury choice, he has it .)
Bottom Line: In most states, once you register to vote, you are no more likely to be summoned to a jury than if you have a state ID or pay state taxes.
“If I do not register to vote, I cannot be drafted into the army.”
This statement is completely false. Almost all men must register with the Selective Service when they turn 18 or 26, even if you are an undocumented immigrant, even if you are a citizen residing outside the country, even if you are disabled. So you definitely won’t get an exception just because you are not registered to vote.
Bottom line: voter registration has nothing to do with the project.
“If I register to vote at the new address, I will have to renew my car insurance.”
Let’s say you grew up in rural West Virginia, bought and insured a car there, and then went to college in downtown Chicago. If you update your voter registration to your Chicago address, will your insurance company know that you no longer live in West Virginia and raise your rates accordingly? Are you required to match your insurance address with your constituency?
According to the Brennan Justice Center , “car insurance should not depend on your voter registration or your legal residence in general. The amount of your car insurance depends on where your car is located and where you drive it. If you are a student who brings your car to school, your insurance company may change your rate because you are driving in a different environment, but voter registration has nothing to do with that decision. ”
Bottom line: your car does not need to be insured at the same address where you registered to vote.
“I cannot register to vote because I was convicted of a crime.”
Although in most states you lose your right to vote as a felony convict, those rights can be restored after serving your sentence. If you were registered before jail time, you will need to re-register when you get out of jail, but in most states it doesn’t matter if you served your sentence in the interim.
Here is an easy-to-analyze state-by-state chart showing when your voting rights are returned to you in the criminal justice process. In Maine and Vermont, you can even register to vote while you are in prison. In most other states, you can register after your release from prison or after your parole and probation period.
If you have been convicted of a misdemeanor, in most states you can freely retain your right to vote. However, there are some states that can only strip you of these rights during the weeks or months that you are in prison: Colorado , Idaho , Illinois , Indiana , Michigan , Missouri , New Jersey, and Pennsylvania . If you’ve served a misdemeanor sentence since the last vote, you can re-register now just to make sure.
Aaron Gitelman is the director of public affairs for HeadCount, a non-partisan organization that works with musicians to foster their participation in democracy. He says, “The best feeling I get when registering people to vote is when someone says,“ Sorry, I can’t, I was convicted of a felony, ”and then I turn to state law and get to tell them, “Actually, you can.” Every voter registration counts, but it’s something really special. “
Bottom line: In most states, convicted criminals can register to vote after serving their sentence.
“I can’t register to vote because I don’t have a permanent address.”
Nonprofit organization VOTE reports: “Homeless people can register and vote in all 50 states.” To register, you will need to provide a location where you can receive mail (for example, the address of a local relative, agency, or church) and / or a description of where you live (for example, the name of a park or street corner). … The National Coalition of the Homeless provides a chart that identifies the two pieces of information you need to provide, depending on your state.
Bottom line: the right to vote is in no way dependent on having a home address.
“I cannot register to vote because I live abroad.”
According to the US Voting Foundation , “US citizens living overseas are eligible to vote as absentee voters, provided they are eligible to vote in their state. If you live outside the United States permanently, indefinitely, or temporarily, your voting rights remain with you, even if you never voted when you lived in the United States. ” And they add: “Many states allow children born overseas but never lived in the US to use their parents’ last US address for registration.”
In other words, if you are a citizen, you can register to vote even if your return to the US is uncertain, or even if you have never lived in the US, you can take care of your overseas registration on the site here .
Bottom line: Living outside the United States, temporarily or permanently, does not affect your voting rights.
“I am in college in a state where I did not grow up, and if I register to vote here, I will lose financial aid.”
Brennan Justice Center states, “Your registration to vote will not affect your federal financial assistance, including Pell grants, Perkins and Stafford loans, academic competition grants, SMART grants, and other federal loans. It will also not affect whether you qualify as your parent’s dependents for FAFSA (Free Federal Student Aid App) purposes. “
There are a number of private scholarships and grants that are exclusively for students in a specific state. For the most part, they define “residence” as your parent’s place of residence and / or where you attended high school – which means registering to vote out of state will not affect your eligibility for the scholarship. (For example, the Banato Family Education Foundation for the Philippines requires you to reside in certain California counties when applying for the scholarship, but if you receive a scholarship, you can use it at an out -of- state college and register to vote there without any problem. )
If you have a geographically tied private scholarship and are not sure if registering to vote in your college city will affect your eligibility, check with your scholarship administrator and / or your school’s financial aid office.
The BestColleges.com website offers simpler answers to frequently asked questions about student voting , including whether you should register at home or school, how to vote while studying abroad, and more.
Bottom line: Updating your voter registration as a student will not affect your financial aid, and in all but a few cases it will not affect your scholarship either.
“If I register to vote, people will know where I live; anyone can access the voter lists and show up at my door. “
Voter registration lists are publicly available by default. Here’s how political campaigns can call you to ask who you vote for, or ring your doorbell to give you a piece of literature about their candidate.
If you do not want an invasion, please leave your phone number on the voter registration form. (This is optional.) And if you receive a call or agents, I would advise not to ignore them (they will just keep coming back until they write your official response) – instead answer at the door or on the phone, ask to be removed from their list, and they will do it.
When strangers try to talk to you about politics, it can at worst annoy you, interrupting your day. But for victims of domestic violence or stalking, a public address can be dangerous. Many states have Address Privacy Programs for this very purpose. The National Network to End Domestic Violence provides guidance on privacy programs offered by each state.
Bottom Line: Registering to vote will add you to the public database unless you take the extra steps to register through your State’s Address Privacy Program.
“It’s too late for me to register to vote this year.”
Not if you act now. The earliest registration deadline in the states is October 7 (this is for Alaska and Rhode Island). Other states may give you even more time. View your state’s voter registration deadlines in this easy-to-read table .
Bottom line: there is still time. Do not wait.
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Here’s the real truth: Most of the reasons people can’t or don’t want to register to vote are just myths. And of course, after registering, people come up with a variety of reasons why they can’t actually vote. You probably won’t be surprised to learn that most of these reasons are also false. If you think you are not able to participate in the surveys, you can get a free ride there . If you think you can’t get away from work to vote, you probably can . If you can’t find the postage to send your absentee ballot, just paste it into your inbox .
Register. Go vote .
Leila Sales is the author of six novels for young adults, including the most recent IF NOT SAY IT IS PLEASANT TO SAY (Macmillan, 2018). Follow her @LeilaSalesBooks .