Student Voting Rights in Michigan

State Rep. Rebekah Warren (D-Ann Arbor) brought two bills before a Michigan State House committee in a hearing last week in an attempt to repeal Rogers's Law which requires Michigan residents to register to vote using the same address as their driver's license.

Rogers's Law has become a major impediment to student voters, because under the law, students who live at school during the school year, but list their parents' residence as their permanent address, must either change the address on their drivers' license to the place they're currently residing or vote using an absentee ballot. First-time voters (as many students are) are not allowed to vote absentee however and must vote in person in the district of their permanent address - a major inconvenience for students who don't live near where they go to school. Students who chose their school address would have to update it every time they moved around campus.

Warren's legislation would eliminate the requirement that a Michigan voter's voter registration address match their drivers' license, making it easier for college students to vote where they attend school, rather than in their hometowns.