‘Residency’ language dropped from House voting bill

A proposed amendment to House Bill 1311 resulted in the removal of the portion concerning residence issues for out-of-state student voters. The rest of the bill was passed by a House committee by a 12-0 vote Tuesday.

The portion of the bill has been sent to a committee to be examined in the summer. Some of the other initiatives outlined in HB 1311 include implementation of an electronic poll list and electronic signature pads in each of the county precincts.

The section that was omitted from HB 1311 was proposed to restrict out-of-state students from voting in Indiana elections.

Daniel Cheesman, chairman of IU College Republicans, said although he doesn’t consider it a victory, he is glad the out-of-state student voter language was omitted from the bill.

“I hope that the language would be completely stricken from the bill and would continue to allow students to vote in municipal elections,” Cheesman said. “It wasn’t exactly expected, but I’m glad that it did happen.”

Cheesman said it’s hard to get students to participate civically.

“You have to make sure they have a say what’s going on and make sure they know they are the ones that have the power to change the direction of country, of the state, and especially of the city,” he said.

Cheesman also said prohibiting out-of-state students from voting would discourage civic engagement.

“It’s something we need to keep vigilant and make sure we follow through on, especially during the summer when there are elections here in Bloomington and we are not as watchful,” Cheesman said.

Jon Sutton, former president of IU Students for Barack Obama, said he expected the bill to pass, so he was shocked by the removal of the portion regarding out-of-state student voters.

“It’s a temporary victory,” Sutton said. “I feel almost positive this bill is going to find its way back up in 2014.”

Sutton said in the short term, students would have to live in-state and fit the requirements of the law, but it would be overturned by the courts in the long-term.
“It’s pretty blatantly unconstitutional,” he said.

Sutton said a number of students are expected each year to remain in Bloomington post-graduation.

“Students are paying local taxes that are paying to support Monroe County’s government,” Sutton said. “They are also passing state income taxes and sales taxes that do help the state of Indiana, but they are getting no representation at that level.”

— Matt Stefanski