ID law discriminates against college students

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To the editor:

“If voting is that important to you, you should get a voting ID.”

That is what our new Rep. Kelby Woodard had to say about voting in the state of Minnesota. A co-author of a bill that requires that voters display photo identification, he apparently doesn’t believe that voting is the right and duty of all citizens. But if you really, really insist, I guess you should get an ID. The law Woodard co-authored requires that all voters have valid government photo ID and, critically, that said ID indicates the voter’s address in the district.

Let’s consider Woodard’s own district. In Northfield alone, we have about 5,000 college students, legal residents of Northfield who do not have their college address on their ID. I am one of these students. Granted, some vote absentee in their home districts, but nearly all of those who do vote here come from another district or another state. So, in advance of the election, students would need to head on down the Northfield DMV to apply for a state ID card or new voting card with their college address. We don’t know exactly what will be required, but it’s almost certain they would need to provide a certified birth certificate or passport to prove citizenship. (And I’m sure the tiny staff of that office would appreciate a few thousand applications in the month before an election.)

Is it still possible for students to vote? Yeah. Sure. At great inconvenience to both students and the city DMV office, students could vote if they’re adequately prepared and are able to get required documentation in time. But reasonable convenience matters. Even with same-day registration and no ID requirement, student political involvement groups struggle to get everyone to the polls. Now they’ll need to get them to ask their parents to mail a birth certificate, leave campus, get to City Hall, and stand in line to get an ID — just for the privilege of going to the polls weeks later. The end result of this change is that hundreds — if not thousands — fewer college students will vote. Perhaps that’s exactly the point.

Sean Hayford O’Leary
Northfield