Questions Surround Registration Status For Out-of-State F&M Students
Staffer erroneously told that they need to cancel out-of-state registration.
October 19, 2024
1 Comment
Staffer erroneously told that they need to cancel out-of-state registration.
The saga of Franklin & Marshall College personnel and the Lancaster County Elections Office has taken another turn.
Laura Medvic, co-chair of “F&M Votes,” a nonpartisan coalition of Franklin & Marshall College students, faculty and professional staff engaged in voter registration, education and motivation activities, spoke with PoliticsPA about her interaction with Lisa Dart, deputy chief clerk/registrar for Lancaster County, on Friday afternoon.
Medvic claims that Dart is misleading F&M on the proper process for registering out-of-state students to vote in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
“Yesterday (Friday) was our on-campus deadline for voter registration,” Medvic said. “I took the forms down (to the election office) and it’s a very busy time … they’re doing all kinds of things. I handed (Dart) my forms and she leafed through them and said, ‘Well, you know, we have forms here that until we see proof that the students have canceled their registration elsewhere, we can’t do anything with them.”
When Medvic challenged Dart about Pennsylvania’s election code statute, the deputy chief clerk “insisted that students could not be registered in two places.” Medvic insisted that in her 20-year experience with F&M Votes, “there was never a question about it. There is nowhere on the Secretary of State’s website that states you must show proof that you have canceled your registration.”
Dart responded by stating that college students, and any registered voter, cannot be registered in two places.
After a back-and-forth between the two women, Medvic informed Dart that she would be informing the college’s general counsel who would be in contact with the Elections Office. Medvic left the students’ registrations with Dart, who accepted them. She also noted that the college has “students whose voter registration is still not active when we’ve checked them on the PA voter registration website.”
“My whole aim in all of this is just to make sure that as adults are becoming of age, to be able to vote, to have access, to be able to register and to be able to cast a ballot, regardless of party, regardless of where they’re from,” said Medvic. “Voting is essential to our democracy, and that’s sort of what F&M Votes is all about. And one of the reasons why I became involved.”
According to the Pennsylvania Department of State website, “if you moved from outside of PA to attend college in PA, you may register to vote in Pennsylvania if you meet the requirements listed above.”
They include:
These are required of anyone who intends to cast a ballot in the Commonwealth.
It does not state that a person who wishes to register to vote in the state is required to cancel any previous registration.
These are required of anyone who intends to cast a ballot in the Commonwealth.
Resident students at Franklin & Marshall and almost every college or university in the state have been on campus since late August or early September, exceeding the 30-day requirement.
The United States Supreme Court ruled in January, 1979, that the denial of residency rights for college students was unconstitutional in the Symm vs. United States case.
The Supreme Court’s decision consisted on just four words – “The judgment is affirmed.”
The United States adopted the 26th Amendment in 1971; it provides that “the right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.”
Though courts have heard some cases involving this amendment, few of those cases reached the Supreme Court, meaning the Court has never handed down a decision fleshing out the meaning of the 26th Amendment.
Section 1
The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.
Section 2
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Could a party – Democratic or Republican – challenge the meaning of the 26th Amendment after the results of the presidential election are determined? What would it mean that the U.S. Supreme Court, as presently comprised, favors conservatives by a 6-3 count?
In a text statement to PoliticsPA, the minority commissioner on the three-member Board of Commissioners for Lancaster County wrote that the dispute between the nonpartisan “F&M Votes” and the County’s Election Office has been misconstrued.
Lancaster County Commissioner Alice Yoder told PoliticsPA that “the Lancaster County Elections Office accepted the voter registration applications you are inquiring about. No voter registrations were denied.”
Yoder continued, “the individual who spoke with the County Elections Office stated that she was instructing students that they can knowingly be registered to vote in multiple states. Unfortunately, telling students that they can knowingly and purposefully register to vote in multiple states is incorrect and is not the proper procedure to change your voter registration.”
Medvic responded by saying, “I don’t know what’s happening once I’m turning them over. The only course of action I really have is to go on and check the PA voter registration status website to see, because we do scan our forms before I take them down (to the elections office).”
On Saturday, a third member of the college community came forward to share that when they went to register to vote in-person at the North Queen Street offices in Lancaster, they were told that they would have to cancel their previous out-of-state registration before being permitted to register in Lancaster County.
Matt Schousen, also a co-chair of F&M Votes, said that this brings the total to three people associated with Franklin & Marshall who have erroneously been told similar information – a student, a staffer, and a representative of the nonpartisan student organization.
The Pennsylvania chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union issued a statement, reminding the Lancaster office “it is absolutely not a requirement that a voter have a Pennsylvania driver’s license to register to vote. Many Pennsylvania voters do not have one, and that is why providing the last four digits of their Social Security Number is acceptable proof of identification at the voter registration stage. Advising voters that they must have a Pennsylvania driver’s license violates both federal and state law.”
The saga of Franklin & Marshall College personnel and the Lancaster County Elections Office has taken another turn.
Laura Medvic, co-chair of “F&M Votes,” a nonpartisan coalition of Franklin & Marshall College students, faculty and professional staff engaged in voter registration, education and motivation activities, spoke with PoliticsPA about her interaction with Lisa Dart, deputy chief clerk/registrar for Lancaster County, on Friday afternoon.
Medvic claims that Dart is misleading F&M on the proper process for registering out-of-state students to vote in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
“Yesterday (Friday) was our on-campus deadline for voter registration,” Medvic said. “I took the forms down (to the election office) and it’s a very busy time … they’re doing all kinds of things. I handed (Dart) my forms and she leafed through them and said, ‘Well, you know, we have forms here that until we see proof that the students have canceled their registration elsewhere, we can’t do anything with them.”
When Medvic challenged Dart about Pennsylvania’s election code statute, the deputy chief clerk “insisted that students could not be registered in two places.” Medvic insisted that in her 20-year experience with F&M Votes, “there was never a question about it. There is nowhere on the Secretary of State’s website that states you must show proof that you have canceled your registration.”
Dart responded by stating that college students, and any registered voter, cannot be registered in two places.
After a back-and-forth between the two women, Medvic informed Dart that she would be informing the college’s general counsel who would be in contact with the Elections Office. Medvic left the students’ registrations with Dart, who accepted them. She also noted that the college has “students whose voter registration is still not active when we’ve checked them on the PA voter registration website.”
“My whole aim in all of this is just to make sure that as adults are becoming of age, to be able to vote, to have access, to be able to register and to be able to cast a ballot, regardless of party, regardless of where they’re from,” said Medvic. “Voting is essential to our democracy, and that’s sort of what F&M Votes is all about. And one of the reasons why I became involved.”
According to the Pennsylvania Department of State website, “if you moved from outside of PA to attend college in PA, you may register to vote in Pennsylvania if you meet the requirements listed above.”
They include:
These are required of anyone who intends to cast a ballot in the Commonwealth.
It does not state that a person who wishes to register to vote in the state is required to cancel any previous registration.
These are required of anyone who intends to cast a ballot in the Commonwealth.
Resident students at Franklin & Marshall and almost every college or university in the state have been on campus since late August or early September, exceeding the 30-day requirement.
The United States Supreme Court ruled in January, 1979, that the denial of residency rights for college students was unconstitutional in the Symm vs. United States case.
The Supreme Court’s decision consisted on just four words – “The judgment is affirmed.”
The United States adopted the 26th Amendment in 1971; it provides that “the right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.”
Though courts have heard some cases involving this amendment, few of those cases reached the Supreme Court, meaning the Court has never handed down a decision fleshing out the meaning of the 26th Amendment.
Section 1
The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.
Section 2
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Could a party – Democratic or Republican – challenge the meaning of the 26th Amendment after the results of the presidential election are determined? What would it mean that the U.S. Supreme Court, as presently comprised, favors conservatives by a 6-3 count?
In a text statement to PoliticsPA, the minority commissioner on the three-member Board of Commissioners for Lancaster County wrote that the dispute between the nonpartisan “F&M Votes” and the County’s Election Office has been misconstrued.
Lancaster County Commissioner Alice Yoder told PoliticsPA that “the Lancaster County Elections Office accepted the voter registration applications you are inquiring about. No voter registrations were denied.”
Yoder continued, “the individual who spoke with the County Elections Office stated that she was instructing students that they can knowingly be registered to vote in multiple states. Unfortunately, telling students that they can knowingly and purposefully register to vote in multiple states is incorrect and is not the proper procedure to change your voter registration.”
Medvic responded by saying, “I don’t know what’s happening once I’m turning them over. The only course of action I really have is to go on and check the PA voter registration status website to see, because we do scan our forms before I take them down (to the elections office).”
On Saturday, a third member of the college community came forward to share that when they went to register to vote in-person at the North Queen Street offices in Lancaster, they were told that they would have to cancel their previous out-of-state registration before being permitted to register in Lancaster County.
Matt Schousen, also a co-chair of F&M Votes, said that this brings the total to three people associated with Franklin & Marshall who have erroneously been told similar information – a student, a staffer, and a representative of the nonpartisan student organization.
The Pennsylvania chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union issued a statement, reminding the Lancaster office “it is absolutely not a requirement that a voter have a Pennsylvania driver’s license to register to vote. Many Pennsylvania voters do not have one, and that is why providing the last four digits of their Social Security Number is acceptable proof of identification at the voter registration stage. Advising voters that they must have a Pennsylvania driver’s license violates both federal and state law.”
The saga of Franklin & Marshall College personnel and the Lancaster County Elections Office has taken another turn.
Laura Medvic, co-chair of “F&M Votes,” a nonpartisan coalition of Franklin & Marshall College students, faculty and professional staff engaged in voter registration, education and motivation activities, spoke with PoliticsPA about her interaction with Lisa Dart, deputy chief clerk/registrar for Lancaster County, on Friday afternoon.
Medvic claims that Dart is misleading F&M on the proper process for registering out-of-state students to vote in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
“Yesterday (Friday) was our on-campus deadline for voter registration,” Medvic said. “I took the forms down (to the election office) and it’s a very busy time … they’re doing all kinds of things. I handed (Dart) my forms and she leafed through them and said, ‘Well, you know, we have forms here that until we see proof that the students have canceled their registration elsewhere, we can’t do anything with them.”
When Medvic challenged Dart about Pennsylvania’s election code statute, the deputy chief clerk “insisted that students could not be registered in two places.” Medvic insisted that in her 20-year experience with F&M Votes, “there was never a question about it. There is nowhere on the Secretary of State’s website that states you must show proof that you have canceled your registration.”
Dart responded by stating that college students, and any registered voter, cannot be registered in two places.
After a back-and-forth between the two women, Medvic informed Dart that she would be informing the college’s general counsel who would be in contact with the Elections Office. Medvic left the students’ registrations with Dart, who accepted them. She also noted that the college has “students whose voter registration is still not active when we’ve checked them on the PA voter registration website.”
“My whole aim in all of this is just to make sure that as adults are becoming of age, to be able to vote, to have access, to be able to register and to be able to cast a ballot, regardless of party, regardless of where they’re from,” said Medvic. “Voting is essential to our democracy, and that’s sort of what F&M Votes is all about. And one of the reasons why I became involved.”
According to the Pennsylvania Department of State website, “if you moved from outside of PA to attend college in PA, you may register to vote in Pennsylvania if you meet the requirements listed above.”
They include:
These are required of anyone who intends to cast a ballot in the Commonwealth.
It does not state that a person who wishes to register to vote in the state is required to cancel any previous registration.
These are required of anyone who intends to cast a ballot in the Commonwealth.
Resident students at Franklin & Marshall and almost every college or university in the state have been on campus since late August or early September, exceeding the 30-day requirement.
The United States Supreme Court ruled in January, 1979, that the denial of residency rights for college students was unconstitutional in the Symm vs. United States case.
The Supreme Court’s decision consisted on just four words – “The judgment is affirmed.”
The United States adopted the 26th Amendment in 1971; it provides that “the right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.”
Though courts have heard some cases involving this amendment, few of those cases reached the Supreme Court, meaning the Court has never handed down a decision fleshing out the meaning of the 26th Amendment.
Section 1
The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.
Section 2
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Could a party – Democratic or Republican – challenge the meaning of the 26th Amendment after the results of the presidential election are determined? What would it mean that the U.S. Supreme Court, as presently comprised, favors conservatives by a 6-3 count?
In a text statement to PoliticsPA, the minority commissioner on the three-member Board of Commissioners for Lancaster County wrote that the dispute between the nonpartisan “F&M Votes” and the County’s Election Office has been misconstrued.
Lancaster County Commissioner Alice Yoder told PoliticsPA that “the Lancaster County Elections Office accepted the voter registration applications you are inquiring about. No voter registrations were denied.”
Yoder continued, “the individual who spoke with the County Elections Office stated that she was instructing students that they can knowingly be registered to vote in multiple states. Unfortunately, telling students that they can knowingly and purposefully register to vote in multiple states is incorrect and is not the proper procedure to change your voter registration.”
Medvic responded by saying, “I don’t know what’s happening once I’m turning them over. The only course of action I really have is to go on and check the PA voter registration status website to see, because we do scan our forms before I take them down (to the elections office).”
On Saturday, a third member of the college community came forward to share that when they went to register to vote in-person at the North Queen Street offices in Lancaster, they were told that they would have to cancel their previous out-of-state registration before being permitted to register in Lancaster County.
Matt Schousen, also a co-chair of F&M Votes, said that this brings the total to three people associated with Franklin & Marshall who have erroneously been told similar information – a student, a staffer, and a representative of the nonpartisan student organization.
The Pennsylvania chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union issued a statement, reminding the Lancaster office “it is absolutely not a requirement that a voter have a Pennsylvania driver’s license to register to vote. Many Pennsylvania voters do not have one, and that is why providing the last four digits of their Social Security Number is acceptable proof of identification at the voter registration stage. Advising voters that they must have a Pennsylvania driver’s license violates both federal and state law.”
The saga of Franklin & Marshall College personnel and the Lancaster County Elections Office has taken another turn.
Laura Medvic, co-chair of “F&M Votes,” a nonpartisan coalition of Franklin & Marshall College students, faculty and professional staff engaged in voter registration, education and motivation activities, spoke with PoliticsPA about her interaction with Lisa Dart, deputy chief clerk/registrar for Lancaster County, on Friday afternoon.
Medvic claims that Dart is misleading F&M on the proper process for registering out-of-state students to vote in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
“Yesterday (Friday) was our on-campus deadline for voter registration,” Medvic said. “I took the forms down (to the election office) and it’s a very busy time … they’re doing all kinds of things. I handed (Dart) my forms and she leafed through them and said, ‘Well, you know, we have forms here that until we see proof that the students have canceled their registration elsewhere, we can’t do anything with them.”
When Medvic challenged Dart about Pennsylvania’s election code statute, the deputy chief clerk “insisted that students could not be registered in two places.” Medvic insisted that in her 20-year experience with F&M Votes, “there was never a question about it. There is nowhere on the Secretary of State’s website that states you must show proof that you have canceled your registration.”
Dart responded by stating that college students, and any registered voter, cannot be registered in two places.
After a back-and-forth between the two women, Medvic informed Dart that she would be informing the college’s general counsel who would be in contact with the Elections Office. Medvic left the students’ registrations with Dart, who accepted them. She also noted that the college has “students whose voter registration is still not active when we’ve checked them on the PA voter registration website.”
“My whole aim in all of this is just to make sure that as adults are becoming of age, to be able to vote, to have access, to be able to register and to be able to cast a ballot, regardless of party, regardless of where they’re from,” said Medvic. “Voting is essential to our democracy, and that’s sort of what F&M Votes is all about. And one of the reasons why I became involved.”
According to the Pennsylvania Department of State website, “if you moved from outside of PA to attend college in PA, you may register to vote in Pennsylvania if you meet the requirements listed above.”
They include:
These are required of anyone who intends to cast a ballot in the Commonwealth.
It does not state that a person who wishes to register to vote in the state is required to cancel any previous registration.
These are required of anyone who intends to cast a ballot in the Commonwealth.
Resident students at Franklin & Marshall and almost every college or university in the state have been on campus since late August or early September, exceeding the 30-day requirement.
The United States Supreme Court ruled in January, 1979, that the denial of residency rights for college students was unconstitutional in the Symm vs. United States case.
The Supreme Court’s decision consisted on just four words – “The judgment is affirmed.”
The United States adopted the 26th Amendment in 1971; it provides that “the right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.”
Though courts have heard some cases involving this amendment, few of those cases reached the Supreme Court, meaning the Court has never handed down a decision fleshing out the meaning of the 26th Amendment.
Section 1
The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.
Section 2
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Could a party – Democratic or Republican – challenge the meaning of the 26th Amendment after the results of the presidential election are determined? What would it mean that the U.S. Supreme Court, as presently comprised, favors conservatives by a 6-3 count?
In a text statement to PoliticsPA, the minority commissioner on the three-member Board of Commissioners for Lancaster County wrote that the dispute between the nonpartisan “F&M Votes” and the County’s Election Office has been misconstrued.
Lancaster County Commissioner Alice Yoder told PoliticsPA that “the Lancaster County Elections Office accepted the voter registration applications you are inquiring about. No voter registrations were denied.”
Yoder continued, “the individual who spoke with the County Elections Office stated that she was instructing students that they can knowingly be registered to vote in multiple states. Unfortunately, telling students that they can knowingly and purposefully register to vote in multiple states is incorrect and is not the proper procedure to change your voter registration.”
Medvic responded by saying, “I don’t know what’s happening once I’m turning them over. The only course of action I really have is to go on and check the PA voter registration status website to see, because we do scan our forms before I take them down (to the elections office).”
On Saturday, a third member of the college community came forward to share that when they went to register to vote in-person at the North Queen Street offices in Lancaster, they were told that they would have to cancel their previous out-of-state registration before being permitted to register in Lancaster County.
Matt Schousen, also a co-chair of F&M Votes, said that this brings the total to three people associated with Franklin & Marshall who have erroneously been told similar information – a student, a staffer, and a representative of the nonpartisan student organization.
The Pennsylvania chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union issued a statement, reminding the Lancaster office “it is absolutely not a requirement that a voter have a Pennsylvania driver’s license to register to vote. Many Pennsylvania voters do not have one, and that is why providing the last four digits of their Social Security Number is acceptable proof of identification at the voter registration stage. Advising voters that they must have a Pennsylvania driver’s license violates both federal and state law.”
Will tonight's U.S. Senate debate affect your decision?
Loading ...
