Montana judge blocks new voting law that targets student residents
A federal appellate court ruling from 1979 established that students can register to vote in their college towns, but a new state law tried to change that for people in temporary educational programs.
By Aiko Brooks ·
A Montana state judge has paused a new law that would have restricted how college students register to vote in the state. The ruling leaves the previous residency rules in place for the upcoming midterm elections. This legal dispute has drawn national attention to a question that has existed since the late 1970s: where exactly should out-of-state students cast their ballots?
The controversy began when Montana's Republican-controlled legislature passed a new restriction last year. The law targeted temporary residents in educational programs. Under the new rules, these individuals could only register to vote in a specific Montana county if they intended to make that county or the state their permanent home after finishing their program. State officials argued that the restriction did not apply to university students. In a court filing, they claimed that obtaining a two, four, or eight-year degree is not a temporary endeavor, making the word temporary meaningless if applied to students.
That interpretation did not satisfy Missoula County Judge Jason Marks. In February, Marks found that the restriction likely violates the Montana constitution. This month, he held a hearing on the case. He is now preparing a final ruling in the lawsuit brought by the Montana Public Interest Research Group, known as MontPIRG. The student advocacy group argues that the change to the residency rule could force thousands of eligible students to lose the ability to vote on local issues.
The legal background for this fight dates back to a 1979 Supreme Court ruling. That decision affirmed the right of eligible students to register in the communities where they live during the academic year. Experts say the case serves as a reminder of common misunderstandings about the rights of young voters. Michael Hanmer, a professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland, notes that federal law sets ground rules for residency requirements to prevent discrimination against specific groups.
Hanmer explains that states cannot apply different standards to different groups of people. College students must be treated the same as any other person who is new to a particular location. All eligible voters have the right to cast a ballot somewhere. Like owners of multiple homes, many students choose which of their residences serves as their legal home for voting purposes. This legal concept is known as domicile.
Yael Bromberg, an attorney who co-edited a book on youth voting rights, defines domicile as the one singular, fixed, permanent, and principal home where a person intends to return. She notes that for a student who may not know where they will live after graduation, that determination is highly personal and an individualized assessment. In Montana, a U.S. citizen who is 18 or older and has been a state resident for at least 30 days is generally eligible to register to vote.
Hanmer says he would be surprised if the attempt to restrict students who are in Montana just for educational purposes holds up in court. However, he points out that student voters who do have the right to choose where to register should be aware of other state requirements. If they want to follow through and vote in a new state, they might have to engage in additional activities that could be costly in terms of time. Certain states require a new resident to get a new state ID or change their car registration. Hanmer adds that states can impose these restrictions, but they must impose them on all new residents, not just college students.
