Judge Puts Montana Student Voting Limits On Hold Pending Final Ruling

Missoula County Judge Jason Marks ruled in February that a new Montana restriction on student voter registration likely violates the state constitution, and he has not yet issued a final order in the case. The earlier rules remain in place for Montana students registering to vote through Election Day.

The dispute traces to 1979, when the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that eligible students may register where they live during the academic year. The question of where students cast ballots has resurfaced in Montana after the state's Republican-controlled legislature passed a law last year limiting registration for "temporary" residents in an "educational program." Under that law, such residents could register in a Montana county only if they intend to make the county or state their permanent home after their program ends.

State officials defend the change. In a court filing, they argued that applying it to college students "would render the word 'temporary' meaningless, because no one understands obtaining a two, four, or eight-year degree as a temporary endeavor." At a public hearing last year, supporters of the restriction said students from outside Montana should not affect the state's elections.

Student advocates sued. The Montana Public Interest Research Group, known as MontPIRG, brought the case and claims the residency rule change could cost thousands of students the ability to vote in their communities. Judge Marks held a hearing this month and is preparing his final ruling. He blocked the new restriction in the meantime, so the prior registration rules stay in effect for the midterm elections.

Federal law governs how states set residency requirements for voters. Michael Hanmer, a professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland whose research has focused on student voters, said states cannot single out one group. "You can't apply different standards to different groups of people, so college students need to be treated the same as anybody else in the mix here who might be new to a particular place," Hanmer said.

Federal law in 1979 affirmed that eligible students may register where they live during the school year. A U.S. citizen 18 or older who has lived in Montana for 30 days can generally register there. Hanmer said he does not expect the Montana restriction to survive in court. "I would be surprised if this attempt to restrict students from voting if they're in Montana just for educational purposes holds up," he said.

Registration rules elsewhere can add steps. Some states require a new resident to obtain a state ID or change a car registration. "They can impose these restrictions," Hanmer said, "but they impose them on all new residents, not just college students."

The legal term at issue is domicile. Yael Bromberg, an attorney who co-edited "Youth Voting Rights: Civil Rights, the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, and the Fight for American Democracy on College Campuses," described it as "the one singular, fixed, permanent, principal home where one intends to return, although she may not currently reside there." She added that for a student unsure of where they will live after graduation, "that determination of domicile is highly personal and an individualized assessment."

Judge Marks has set no date for his final ruling. The midterm elections run through Election Day.