Students heading to the polls on election day might be in for a surprise, thanks to little-known Michigan voting ordinances.
The state of Michigan is one of many states that currently allows anyone who has moved in-state within 60 days of an election to vote at their old polling location one last time, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
Although the policy was designed to be helpful, students are at a unique disadvantage. For the 2016 election on Nov. 8, a person must have moved on or after Sept. 10 to be covered by the grace period if they’ve switched jurisdictions, but most students move into new apartments in late August.
For many students, changing their voting address isn’t a top priority at the start of a new semester. Even those who are familiar with the rule might not rush to change their address because there are no time constraints if a person moves within their jurisdiction, East Lansing City Clerk Marie Wicks said.
“If their name’s on the list, they can vote one last time if they’ve moved within East Lansing,” Wicks said.
The problem with this rule is a person can have an East Lansing postal address, but not really live in East Lansing.
“Let’s say you lived in the dorms and you moved to The Lodges,” Wicks said. “The thing is, you still have an East Lansing postal address so students may not be aware that they’re actually in Meridian Township — they’re in a different jurisdiction.”
Many apartment complexes popular with MSU students have East Lansing postal addresses, but are technically in Meridian Township, Bath Township or Haslett, Wicks said.
“It’s very confusing," Wicks said. “It unfairly impacts students, especially when they move outside the jurisdiction and they’re not aware of it — that’s the thing that gets me."
Some students affected by the rule think more should be done to make people aware of voting jurisdictions while there’s time to update addresses.
”It would be better if it would be explained more,” biomedical laboratory science senior Nicole Kupres said. “I’d never heard about it before and this is my fourth year in college.”
Wicks believes one key solution is to extend the grace period.
“I absolutely think that that should be extended by another 30 days,” she said.
In the meantime, students should change their address as soon as they move, Wicks said.
Registered voters can change their address in person at their local Secretary of State office, by mail or online at michigan.gov/vote.
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