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[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E876-E877]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRATION DAY
______
HON. MARCY KAPTUR
of ohio
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, September 23, 2020
Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, yesterday, our Nation marked National
Voter Registration Day. But it was also a day of reckoning and
milestone as our Nation surpassed 200,000 COVID-19 deaths.
Unfortunately, by erecting barriers to voting, we are sending the wrong
signal to our citizens. We can do better as voting is the lifeblood of
our Democracy.
Our nation must take common sense steps like passing the HEROES Act
with its $3.6 billion for state election grants and reigning in the
President's politization of the USPS.
[[Page E877]]
The State of Ohio can also do better. Ohio must add more drop boxes
for voting, provide universal prepaid postage, and simplify the ballot
request process.
While Republican leaders in Columbus and in Washington have wrapped
themselves in knots, yesterday, I led an Ohio delegation letter urging
Ohio higher educational institutions proactively educate students,
faculty, and staff about how to ensure their voice is heard at the
ballot box.
I include in the Record our September 22, 2020, letter.
Congress of the United States,
Washington, DC, September 22, 2020.
Dear Ohio College and University Presidents: As our State
continues to grapple with the challenges presented by COVID-
19, our nation is relying on Ohio's colleges and universities
to take a leadership role in ensuring access to the ballot
box. This duty is particularly important as we commemorate
national voter registration day on September 22, 2020. Your
institutions play a key role in ensuring that students
understand how to access and exercise their constitutionally
enshrined right to vote. Under normal circumstances, students
face barriers to voting, and in these difficult times, those
barriers have multiplied. We ask that each of you to take
steps to ensure your institution commits to easing barriers
for your faculty, students and staff to vote.
As we know, the 1965 Higher Education Act (HEA) helped
increase access to higher education for low-income and first-
generation college students. In 1998, recognizing the
importance of involving younger generations in the democratic
process, Congress expanded the scope of the act to include
provisions on student voting. Section 487(a)(23) of the HEA
as reauthorized in 1998 specified that institutions must make
a good faith effort to facilitate student voter registration.
This reinforced vital role institutions of higher education
play in educating and encouraging students to vote.
Your institutions have the opportunity to play an essential
role in ensuring that young Americans participate in our
democracy by taking simple steps such as designating places
where students can complete voter registration forms or
absentee ballot requests. Colleges can text students where
these one-stop election stations are located and can e-mail
students a voter registration link.
Institutions should share broad voter education information
about how to vote, including the following:
Communicate to your students to ensure they are
registered to vote and that their registration information is
up to date.
Explain Ohio's voter ID requirements directly to
students and staff with emails, posters or mailers. Students
driver's license may be expired this year, but the Ohio
legislature authorized individuals to vote with an expired
license, which students, faculty and staff may not know.
Clarify that if a student's current address varies
from where they registered when they go to vote, they can
vote absentee, with the mailer sent to another address, or
they can vote provisionally if they can prove their address.
Be prepared to educate students on how to vote by
mail or vote provisionally in the event that campuses close
due to the pandemic.
Make clear to students that where you register to
vote will not affect federal financial aid such as Pell
Grants, Perkins or Stafford loans, or your dependency status
for FAFSA; being registered to vote at a different address
from your parents does not prevent them from claiming you as
a dependent on their taxes; and being deemed out-of-state for
tuition purposes does not prevent you from choosing to
register to vote in your campus community.
Provide faculty, staff, and students with
information about how to volunteer as poll workers.
Students, faculty and staff at your institutions need the
type of nonpartisan voter information described in this
letter. In a time where voter disinformation is rampant, your
colleges and universities have not only a legal obligation,
but also a moral obligation to make your campuses an example
of democratic participation. Thank you for your leadership
and for taking every step possible to ease the barriers of
voting for eligible voters on your campuses.
Sincerely,
Marcy Kaptur,
Member of Congress.
Marcia L. Fudge,
Member of Congress.
Joyce Beatty,
Member of Congress.
Sherrod Brown,
United States Senator.
Tim Ryan,
Member of Congress.
____________________