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A Franklin & Marshall College official who leads the institution’s nonpartisan voter registration program, F&M Votes, has raised concerns about a local official allegedly giving students inaccurate information, LancasterOnline reported.
Laura Medvic, the college’s registrar and co-chair of F&M Votes, said a local election official told her students could not register to vote until they provided proof that they had canceled their voting registration in their home states. Medvic said that information is inaccurate.
The alleged misinformation quickly prompted a response from the ACLU of Pennsylvania, which argued in a letter to county officials that there was no provision to bar students from voting if they did not cancel registration in their home states or do not have a Pennsylvania state ID.
The Pennsylvania Department of State also weighed in.
“College students living in Pennsylvania have the right to register to vote at their college address if they so choose, and county boards of elections have a duty to process those applications,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “Students at Pennsylvania colleges can find more information about registering to vote and casting their ballot here at vote.pa.gov/college.”
While the information site notes that students can only vote in one place, it does not say that they must cancel their home registration to vote in Pennsylvania.
A closely watched battleground state, Pennsylvania is expected to play a key role in the 2024 presidential election between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump. Lancaster County has been a Republican stronghold in recent years, the news outlet noted.
Elsewhere, activists have expressed concerns about efforts to suppress student voting after young voters in Wisconsin were sent text messages that seemed to imply it is illegal for out-of-state students to vote there. Wisconsin is also expected to be a critical state in the 2024 election.
