Time is running out for students who haven’t registered to vote and wish to take part in this year’s presidential election.
Secretary of state branch offices are accepting voter registration through Tuesday at all 178 secretary of state offices across Michigan.
“We’re there to do business and anyone who comes into the office on Tuesday to register to vote, we’ll accommodate them,” said Liz Boyd, spokeswoman for the secretary of state.
Students can also register at the local city clerk’s office or by mail if the letter is postmarked by midnight Tuesday.
Boyd said it’s not unusual for students to wait until the last minute to register. The deadline can creep up on them because of busy class schedules, she said.
“We certainly see an increase in voter registration transactions during election years,” Boyd said.
MSU students are apparently no exception to being late-filers.
Sue Donnell, East Lansing city clerk, said almost all the voter registration forms taken from MSU and Lansing Community College students are received within the last two weeks before the Oct. 10 deadline.
“We’re already really busy,” Donnell said. “There are several thousand applications waiting to be processed.
“I’d rather be in Hawaii on a beach.”
Donnell said they have received 7,000 new applicants in the last two weeks alone.
“We devote whole entire days to entering registration forms,” Donnell said. “Our first chore was to alphabetize them, and that took forever.”
One thing students should keep in mind is a new law requiring addresses on drivers’ licenses and voter registration forms to be the same, Boyd said.
“If a student considers East Lansing their principle residence they have every right to vote in East Lansing,” Boyd said.
“If they change their voter registration to an East Lansing address, it will prompt the secretary of state to change the address on their driver’s license to that East Lansing address,” Boyd said.
The secretary of state’s office will provide students with a change of address sticker regardless of whether they register to vote at the clerk’s office or at a secretary of state branch office.
Advertising junior Allison Worman said one of the reasons students might not vote is because that law makes it such an inconvenience.
“The fact that students have to register in the city that is on their driver’s license is such a hassle,” Worman said. “Trying to find time to drive all the way home is difficult.”
This will be the first presidential election Worman is able to vote in. She said she plans on registering to vote before the deadline.
The secretary of state’s office will remain open until 5 p.m. Tuesday, and East Lansing City Hall will close at 8 p.m. Both offices will take registration forms until they close.
Staff writer Amanda Clapp contributed to this report.
