University of Maine
Orono, ME
4-year, Public
2,100 Freshman Class
$22,108 (in-state), $37,138 (out-of-state)
12,114 Total Students
18% of students are out-of-state
http://www.campusdiscovery.com/colleges/profile/university-of-maine-campus#school-explorer(Note there may be 210 out-of-state students in the freshman class alone so the fact that 206 students voted who, we assume, came from out-of-state when they first came to the university is not surprising.)
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The University of Maine is one of the nation’s major public institutions of higher education, but built on a human scale. Its five undergraduate colleges together enroll about 9,000 students, and its graduate school enrolls about 2,300 students seeking masters or doctoral degrees.
http://gradcatalog.umaine.edu/content.php?catoid=24&navoid=345****
(210 of the graduate students could easily have been classed as out-of-state upon admission at the university but have no other residency for voting purposes.)
Are there special residency requirements for students, military personnel, incarcerated persons, and citizens living outside the United States?
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Students:
Students have the right to register in the municipality where they attend school, if they have established residency there. Students must meet the same residency requirements as all other potential voters, but may not be asked to meet any additional requirements.
Students who are not residents of the municipality in which they attend school cannot register in that municipality. Students must determine where they have established residency and register to vote there. If residency is determined to be in another municipality or state, absentee voting is possible and encouraged.
The following items should be kept in mind when determining residency for a college student:
A person does not gain or lose a residence solely because of the person's presence or absence while a student in any institution of learning. This may not be construed to prevent a student at any institution of learning from qualifying as a voter in the municipality where the student resides while attending that institution
When registering students, the registrar must make the determination of residency as he or she would for any potential voter.
A student may have only one residence at any one time.
If a student has established residency in another municipality or State for any reason, and if the circumstances have not changed, the other jurisdiction may be the legal residence where the student should be registered to vote.
http://maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/resident.htm****
A student applying for admission to a degree program is classified as eligible, or not eligible, for in-state tuition at the time of acceptance to the University. A non-matriculated (non-degree) student is classified as eligible, or not eligible, for in-state tuition at the time of registration. The decision, made by the Chief Financial Officer, or other officials designated by the campus, shall be made based on information and documentation furnished by the student and other information available to the University. No student is eligible for in-state tuition classification until he or she has become domiciled in Maine, in accordance with University guidelines, before such registration. If the student is enrolled full-time in an academic program, as defined by the University, it will be presumed that the student is in Maine for educational purposes, and that the student is not in Maine to establish a domicile. A residence established for the purpose of attending a UMS campus shall not by itself constitute domicile. The burden will be on the student to prove that he or she has established a Maine domicile for other than educational purposes. An individual who has lived in the State of Maine, for other than educational purposes, one year prior to registration or application to a campus is considered an in-state student.
. . . .
A student, spouse, or domestic partner of a student, who currently has continuous, permanent full-time employment in Maine before the student decides to apply for degree status at the University will be considered in-state for tuition purposes. A student who is dependent on his/her parent(s) and/or legally appointed guardian (or to whom custody has been granted by court order) is considered to have a domicile with the parent(s) for tuition purposes.
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A student who attended an out-of-state educational institution at in-state tuition rates in the immediately preceding semester, shall be presumed to be in Maine for educational purposes and not to establish a domicile. Again, the burden will be on the individual to prove that he or she has established a Maine domicile for other than educational purposes.
http://www.umaine.edu/graduate/prospectivestudents/residencyrulesHere are Maine's rules for determining residency for tax purposes.
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http://www.maine.gov/revenue/incomeestate/guidance/res_pamphlet.pdf****
It might be worth investigating whether the university and the voting registration office differ in determining whether a person is a resident for their purposes.
The spouse of a full-time student, for example may be working full-time and pay Maine taxes and be considered a full-time resident of Maine. The students spouse my consider himself a full-time resident for purposes of the payment of the spouse's taxes but not be viewed by the university as a Maine resident. This would be especially true of the typical graduate student who lives in Maine full-time, has his private property in Maine all year round and maybe has enrolled a child in a public school in Maine. He may have initially moved to Maine to attend the university.
Then there are students who are classified as out-of-state by the university because they did not satisfy the university's in-state tuition requirements when they first started there but keep all their private property in Maine and do not have residency in any other state.
The big question is whether the students vote only in Maine or also vote elsewhere. Voting twice is prohibited everywhere? I would doubt this. Voting once takes a certain amount of effort and planning.
Another question: What does the fact that 206 students are registered to vote have to do with on the day they ending registration on election day? How many of those who voted registered on election day? And then how long had they been residing in Maine?
And finally, how many non-students registered to vote on election day?
I don't see what students voting really has to do with registering on election day. The students could have registered the day before election day or even a week beforeAnd if you have ever registered people to vote, they usually have to state that they are residents and they sign the form under penalty of perjury. A person could be mistaken about their residency, but it is unlikely that voting in the state of Maine would be so important to a student that they would lie about their residency.
Why do I post this? To point out that the Republican governor's commission is going to have to do a lot of research. I doubt that he will find volunteers to do this.
Again, trying to make sure things are absolutely spotlessly "fair" could end up costing taxpayers more than the results of the investigation are worth.
Meanwhile the bankers that caused our economic recession are enjoying their pots of gold as are the torturers and those who approved the torture.
What a waste of time and money.