Pima County Registrar of Voters claims some college students can't register to vote

05:07 PM MST on Friday, September 24, 2004

By Natalie Tejeda, Fox 11 News

Both the local parties this year are putting on a big push to get young people to register to vote. But are they also encouraging them to break the law?

Several hundred students have registered to vote at the University of Arizona over the past few days, but the Pima County Registrar of Voters believes many may have unintentionally committed a felony.

“Are you registered to vote?” It’s a very common phrase heard around the UofA. History shows that every vote can in fact count, but several organizations holding registration drives on campus claim many don’t make their voice heard.

“Women our age, 18-24 vote less than any other group of women,” says student activist Kelly Kraus. “We decided that something needed to be done to register and mobilize women on campus.”

But is that mobilization going in the right direction. What many don’t realize is that legally students from out of state aren’t eligible to vote in Arizona because they’re considered temporary residents.

“If they’re only here to attend school and their intention is to immediately return to where they came from when schools over then they are not residents of the state of Arizona for voting purposes and they cannot vote here,” claims Chris Roads of the Pima County Registrar of Voters.

Representatives of the Network of Feminist Student Activists on campus disagree.

“As long as you have residency 29 days before the election,” says Kraus. “So people who live here now, who moved here before school started and moved into the dorms they’re legal residents.”

It’s a grey area that has lead to numerous legal battles including a supreme court case. However Roads says the law is on their side and those caught misrepresenting their residency can face a severe punishment.

“The form in Arizona is an affidavit and it is a felony if you are lying on that form,” claims Roads.

So how easily can one get caught? Starting this January every voter registration form is cross checked through the Motor Vehicles Department and the Social Security Administration. If it turns up you’re a resident of another state then you could be prosecuted by the county attorney’s office for fraud.

At this time no one has yet been charged. But Roads says the easiest thing you can do to prevent this is to go online or call your home state’s election office and ask for an absentee ballot.