College students! You can vote.
You can show up on Election Day with an ID and register and vote (bring a utility bill or something with your address on it) . If you forget your ID, you sign an affidavit and vote.
If a clerk gives guff, tell us. We will stick up for you and make sure you get to vote. This is your right. If someone tries to kill your vote, we’ve got your back:
Call us at 208-336-1815
*protected email*
#IdVoPro
Students in Ada and Madison counties have reported that clerks Offices are discouraging them from voting. That’s called VOTER SUPPRESSION. They say warning signs targeting students are because the words are from Idahovotes.gov. But that’s questionable. Even if it is “legal,” we can sure agree that it’s wrong.
Look at how Madison County Clerk Kim Muir has been greeting BYU-Idaho students who’ve been coming in to vote:
College students: don’t let this sign stop you!
Here’s a press release the IDP sent statewide today:
Idaho Democratic Party
For Immediate Release
Date: November 7, 2016
IDP to College Students: You Have a Right to Vote
Boise—The Idaho Democratic Party wants college students to know they can ignore signs at voting places and County Clerk office that seek to discourage students from voting.
The IDP has heard from students in Madison and Ada counties that they are being discouraged from voting. Representatives from Ada and Madison county clerk offices have told the IDP that they are warning students that voting in Idaho could harm their financial aid eligibility. However, financial aid counseling is not up to County Clerks. Rather, County Clerks are tasked with running elections and making sure voters get to vote.
The Madison County Clerk has posted signs using language taken from Secretary of State’s website. Yet, the language clearly discourages, dissuades, and suppresses voting by students (below is the first sentence of a red warning sign labeled “STUDENTS”):
“As a student, you should not be registering and voting your college locale because you failed to register and vote at your true domicile. …”
The IDP asks that Idaho news outlets let students know that they have a right to vote. We also ask that all voters contact us if they have any issues on election day:
Call us at 208-336-1815
Email at *protected email*
#IdVoPro
NOTE: If students have concerns regarding issues of residency and the potential effect on a student’s loans or scholarships, they should talk to their parents and consult their student aid offices.
A photo of the sign from Madison County Clerk’s Office attached.
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