Arizona lawmaker: College kids 'unfairly influence' elections

Alia Beard Rau | The Republic | azcentral.com

Show Caption Hide Caption Lawmaker wants to restrict which college students vote Arizona State Rep. Bob Thorpe thinks some college students shouldn't get to vote in his district. The Republican has drafted legislation to amend how the state defines registered voters.

Arizona Rep. Bob Thorpe is getting a jump start on next year's legislative session.

His summer project? Restricting how college students vote.

The Flagstaff Republican announced plans to introduce legislation next year to "address several problems with voting in Arizona's college communities while ensuring that voting rights are preserved for all Arizona voters."

He alleges college students "unfairly influence" local elections by registering to vote using their college address, where they reside for "only six months out of the year."

That, he said, dilutes the votes of full-time residents. (And surely it has no connection to the fact that he and fellow Republicans narrowly held their seats in the district that includes Northern Arizona University.)



To solve this, Thorpe wants to require college students to use their permanent residence to register to vote and then allow the state to mail the ballot to their college address.

He also wants to require college students to prove they are full-time residents of their college community by providing a state-issued photo ID with a non-campus address.

Interestingly — or maybe unsurprisingly — Thorpe voiced no concerns about the state's other large bloc of part-time resident voters: snowbirds. That group tends to lean decidedly more conservative than college students.

And education leaders may have something to say about the "unfair" influence these winter visitors sometimes have on bonds, overrides and other funding for schools in a state where their children and grandchildren don't live.

Thorpe this session introduced a proposal to forbid voters from using a dorm or other temporary college address to register to vote. Republican leadership did not allow it to get a public hearing or vote.

While NAU's legislative district elects Republicans, the districts that cover Arizona State University in Tempe and the University of Arizona in Tucson are strongly Democratic.

Sen. Steve Farley, D-Tucson, called Thorpe's effort "just another voter suppression attempt."

"I think there's a huge problem with Bob Thorpe not doing well in the districts around NAU," Farley said. "But if he doesn't like the way students are voting, maybe he should change his policies on issues."

Farley said this is among numerous efforts by Republican lawmakers to restrict voting access in Arizona.

"Students vote at a small enough level that we should encourage them to vote, not discourage them," he said. "It's their future we're talking about."

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