By putting herhome town on the renewal forms, Leichtman officially changed her permanent address. Leichtman said she did not realize this would affect where she was registered to vote.

“When I updated my license they asked me if I was registered to vote and I said, ‘Yes,’” Leichtman said. “I asked if everything would be the same and they said, ‘Yes.’”

At the polls, election inspectors told Leichtman she was not registered to vote and said she was the fifth person this happened to, she said.

“I feel like my right to vote was infringed upon,” Leichtman said.

An election inspector in the East Lansing area, who requested her name not to be used for fear of losing her job, said about 40 students went to the polls and were rejected because they were not registered. This number represents about 20 percent of the voters the election inspector said she saw that day.

“I’ve been working the elections for six years,” the election inspector said. “I’ve never seen that many turned away.”

She said that if every student statewide who turned 21 was similarly turned away, the outcome of Tuesday’s election might have been altered.

The inspector said many of the people who were rejected voted in the 2008 elections at that location.

“I cannot explain why 40 people who had voted in the Obama campaign (were turned away),” the inspector said.

“One worker had suggested that they had reached 21 and got a new license — that they were sent back to the precinct that their parents lived in.”

When the permanent address is changed on a driver’s license, it automatically changes the address of the voter registration, Secretary of State spokesman Ken Silfven said.

After the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, more commonly known as the Motor Voter Act, state governments were required to create a single, updated list of registered voters, said Sylvia Warner, a spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton.

In order to enact the federal legislation, the Michigan Secretary of State needed permission from the state Legislature. U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, who was then a state senator, first introduced the bill. It was signed and adopted in 2000.

“The law that was adopted and signed in 2000 addressed strictly the issue of combining one single statewide database,” Warner said.

“The bill was never intended to hurt students.”

Silfven said the law requires the address on driver’s licenses and voter registration cards to match. Silfven said the only time the Secretary of State changes the address on a driver’s license is when a resident requests it be changed.

Leichtman said it was unclear that when she renewed her license, she also was changing where she would be registered to vote.

“If they’re going to change when you’re registered, they need to make that clear or ask you if you want to be registered at your permanent address,” Leichtman said.

“Voters have certain rights and responsibilities,” Silfven said.

“One of those responsibilities is to learn about the registration process.”
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Staff writer Alanna Thiede contributed to this report._