To unlock the youth vote in 2020, Democrats wage legal fights against GOP-backed voting restrictions

[DonViejo]

By Amy Gardner July 11 at 7:00 AM

Maggie Flaherty was so upset that she was too young to cast a ballot against Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election that one of her first missions when she arrived as a freshman at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire the following year was to register to vote.

Then the California native learned about a new proposal from state Republicans that would subject college students who vote in the state to residency requirements such as getting in-state driver’s licenses and vehicle registrations.

“That costs money,” said Flaherty, who along with a classmate and the American Civil Liberties Union sued the state after the law passed. “And I don’t think it should cost money to be able to vote.”

The fight in New Hampshire is one of at least a dozen legal skirmishes being waged across the country, in the run-up to the 2020 election, that are financed by Democrats and liberal activists who hope to overturn or head off measures they fear could erode the electoral might of young voters — an increasingly left-leaning voting bloc.

Over the past decade, Republicans in more than a dozen states have tried to limit the kinds of student IDs that can be used at the polls, restricted the number of polling locations on or near college campuses, or gerrymandered political boundaries that divide campuses and dilute the power of student voters, as well as other measures.

Among the states with laws that Democrats fear could hamper the youth vote in 2020 are battlegrounds including Wisconsin, Florida and New Hampshire.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/to-unlock-the-youth-vote-in-2020-democrats-wage-legal-fights-against-gop-backed-voting-restrictions/2019/07/10/f3c51dd4-8e17-11e9-b08e-cfd89bd36d4e_story.html

[beachbum bob]

1. the fight will be local as republican clerks do all they can to restrict access to voting machines

on or near major college campuses. I know for a fact the attempt was made in 2018 on University of Ill campus in Champaign that has 10's of thousands of voting age students. The clerk initially only authorized TWO voting machines in a very small room on campus and directly lied about it. Last minute legal challenge force the clerks hand along with the support of university's admin.greatly expanded the number of machines and moved into aa much larger space that was ORIGINALLY available for voting.

THIS will always be the tactic when republican ar in control of the process.

[IronLionZion]

2. This is very important. Good that Dems are fighting the good fight

These fees are poll taxes designed to block people with less income from voting.

I grew up in a swing state but went to schools in dark blue states so kept my voter registration at my parents' address until after Obama got elected. I can see how some students would like to do the opposite. But I also didn't have a car so there was no point changing my drivers license.