Update: The post below was based on erroneous reporting that said Iowa Republicans wanted to ban college students from voting if they do not say on a required form that they plan to stay in Iowa after graduation. Later reports clarified that the Republican legislation would instead change such registrations to “inactive” status, which could pave the way for later cancellation but which still permits registrants to vote. Please see this post for full details.
True to form, Republican Iowa state senators have passed a bill out of committee that includes a range of provisions designed to make it harder or even impossible for many citizens to vote. Worst among these provisions is a measure that would ban college students at the state's three public universities—the University of Iowa, Iowa State University, and the University of Northern Iowa—from voting if they don't answer on a required form that they plan to stay in Iowa after graduation.
However, a federal court struck down a nearly identical requirement in Texas four decades ago as a violation of the 26th Amendment, which sets the minimum voting age no higher than 18, and the Supreme Court later affirmed that judgment. Furthermore, the Iowa bill undermines the very premise its sponsor relied on to argue that supposedly temporary residents shouldn't be able to vote in state, since it exempts private colleges. Not only is this classist, by treating public and private college student differently, it could very well amount to a violation of another provision of the constitution: the 14th Amendment's guarantee of equal protection.
The bill also bans these three public universities from serving as early voting locations, which would make voting much more difficult and time-consuming for students. Furthermore, it would mandate that polls close at 8 PM on Election Day instead of the current 9 o'clock closure, and it also would require that absentee mail ballots be received by Election Day. Under current law, ballots count if they're mailed no later than the day before Election Day and received by the Monday afterward.
Iowa Republicans have full control of state government, meaning there's a strong chance that this bill, or at least some of its provisions, will become law. If that comes to pass, lawsuits seem all but guaranteed.
