ACLU Wants Changes In Idaho After Student Voter Flyer

REXBURG, Idaho – The ACLU has demanded the state of Idaho make changes after notices posted outside voting locations near BYU-Idaho in Rexburg.

The notices caused some people alarm and concern Tuesday. The flyers stated, “As a student, you should not be registering and voting in your college locale simply because you failed to register and vote at your true domicile.”

Workers at the Madison County Clerk’s office said those notices come down from the Secretary of State.

It’s pretty common for them to be posted, but they tend to throw some people off.

“I had about ten different colleagues all share the flyer and their concerns with what was going on,” said Felicia Herway.

An Idaho voter herself, Herway said complaints about it made the rounds on social media.

“I think they were worried that students were being intimidated by it, and that they wouldn’t go vote,” she said.

The note also said, “It should be noted that there is no federal right to vote anywhere in the United States for the office of President.”

The ACLU of Idaho demanded the flyers be removed. In a letter to the Idaho Secretary of State, the ACLU said:

“While this is a puzzling inclusion as this is a midterm election, it is completely galling for such a post to be made  within a polling place, as there is most certainly a federal right to vote.”

Madison County Clerk Kim Muir said students can hurt scholarship or tuition status if they register away from home.

“We just want students to be informed before they vote, and know the consequences of what pulling their residency from their home state is going to do,” said Muir.

She said students often didn’t realize the consequence of changing their residency.

“We get calls from angry parents almost every election, yelling at us. ‘(They say) why did you let my students vote? Why didn’t you tell them what this is going to do?’ Especially some from like Alaska, where they’re paid a certain amount of money to be a resident of the state of Alaska. If they register here, it ruins their residency up there.”

Herway said voters just need to do their part and be informed.

“It comes with voting too. Don’t listen to everybody’s voices, listen to yourself, and what you feel is right,” said Herway.

The Madison County Clerk said that information within the flyer is important, but that the state will be looking at the language in those notices to hopefully make them less confusing in the future.