Report Details Student Disenfranchisement

Posted by on October 22, 2004

On September 22, 2004, the League of Conservation Voters Education Fund’s (LCVEF) Project Democracy released a report http://www.lcveducation.org/projectdemocracy/worddocs/Barriers_Report092204.pdf on barriers to students’ electoral participation. The report finds that youth are disfranchised by restrictive residency requirements, racial prejudice, intimidation (by both parties), gerrymandering, and lack of convenient polling locations. “We were shocked to find such startling cases of blatant student disenfranchisement, cases that appear to violate the spirit of the law,” said LCVEF President Deb Callahan. The release of the report was followed on September 23 by a day of action on campuses, sponsored by groups such as Rock the Vote, the New Voters Project, 2020 Vision, Feminist Majority, Project Democracy, and the Student Voting Rights Campaign.