***Press Release*** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 30, 2013

Contact: Mike Rowe (614) 466-5899

Ohio Legislators and Voting Advocates Call for Removal of Anti-Voter Budget Provision
Language in budget would create roadblocks for college students voting in Ohio
ColumbusToday, State Senator Nina Turner (D-Cleveland) and Representatives Michael Stinziano (D-Columbus) and Kathleen Clyde (D-Kent) held a press conference at the Ohio Statehouse to urge the General Assembly to remove a provision included in the state budget by House Republicans that would create roadblocks for college students voting in Ohio. The provision requires universities to charge in-state tuition for any student who is issued a utility bill by the school that can be used to establish residency for voting purposes. This is another solution in search of a problem, Senator Turner commented. These students are integral parts of their college communities and contribute to the economy and vibrancy of our state. I support lower tuition for all students, but it should not be used to encourage their schools to cut them out of the franchise. House Republicans claim the language is meant to lower tuition costs in the state, but the amendment language creates a perverse incentive whereby schools would be forced to make it harder for their students to vote, or lose millions in funding. The Columbus Dispatch reported that more than $100 million is at stake each year, and Innovation Ohio estimates that this figure could cost schools as much as $272 million annually. This provision of the budget will have a very harmful effect, is poorly conceived, woefully misguided, and especially troubling for qualified young electors and universities across the state, said Rep. Stinziano. In addition, as a former elections official and a Representative with seven colleges or universities in my district alone, I am concerned that this provision could violate federal election law and could open the door to costly lawsuits and legal fees. Since the provisions inclusion into House Bill 59, numerous concerns have been raised as to the languages constitutionality. The 1979 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Symm v. United States, ruled that measures designed to hinder the ability of college students to vote with their campus address is a violation of the 26th Amendment.

People have a constitutional right to vote where they reside, Rep. Clyde said. For college students, thats often on campus. Its illegal to discriminate against them and burden their fundamental right to vote. What the Republicans are doing is outrageous and its terrible public policy. State lawmakers were joined by voting advocates who also voiced their concern over the legality of the amendment. It is very disconcerting to learn that our state lawmakers are proposing to make it more difficult for students attending Ohio colleges to participate in the election process by voting in their college communities, said Richard Kinsley, Executive Director of the Ohio Campus Compact, a statewide non-profit coalition of 47 college and university presidents and their campuses working to promote and develop the civic purposes of higher education. This is a lose -lose-lose for college students and all Ohioans. The claim that this is intended only to allow students to pay less tuition is too clever by half and does not even pass the straight-face test, said Peg Rosenfield of the League of Women Voters. It is obviously meant to penalize any university that attempts to provide the identification required for their students to exercise their right to vote.

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