I know you’re all shocked. So Ohio has been working on disenfranchising
more and more people every year. We’ll call it the “GOP Rocks the Vote.” True
the Vote spent a lot of time last year trying to intimidate hundreds of
students because students tend to vote democrat. Now the Republican legislators
are going to use the budget bill to intimidate universities to keep students away
from the polls.
According to Plunderbund,
the substitute budget bill (Sub. H. B. No. 59) introduced by house republicans
contains changes to Ohio law that makes it difficult for Ohio’s students who
live on campus to prove they are residents of the state.
In Ohio, students living on campus can obtain a letter from the school as
proof of residency. These letters are important for students who are trying to
participate in the political process. Moments like this, I really wonder who
added this to the bill, and how they pitched it: “Hey, guys, how do we
disenfranchise young people?”
An Ohio voting guide on the Ohio Secretary of State’s website confirms
students can use their college address to register to vote and the letters are
acceptable proof of residency. Language in the bill creates a disincentive for
schools issuing these letters, by requiring schools to change the residency status
of a student who is issued one of the letters. Schools would be forced to lower
tuition rates for any student who pays out of state tuition but wants to vote
in Ohio.
The provision reads:
“(E) The rules of the chancellor for determining student residency shall grant residency status to a student to whom a state institution of higher education issues a letter utility bill for use as proof that the student is a qualified elector in this state.“Nothing in division (E) of this section shall be used to grant residency to a student for any purpose other than for state subsidy and tuition surcharge purposes.”
For those of you who don’t know, tuition is how schools pay their bills.
I think tuition should be lowered across the board. However, schools will stop
or in the very least decrease issuing letters of residency to students to live
on campus, but pay out of state tuition. The intended purpose: prevent students
from voting.
The House plans to vote on this bill on Thursday. Well played Ohio. Keep
finding ways to cut voters, and I’ll cross my fingers that this comes back to
bit all of you in the ass. It should be noted that students will probably see
this as a good thing, but only after they organize to ensure in state tuition
and the ability to vote. [Aside, on Wednesday, the women come to Columbus to
speak out against the defunding of the Planned Parenthood.]
