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Monday, August 4, 2008

Obama Senate ally wants colleges to register student voters

By Scott Shepard | Monday, August 4, 2008, 11:44 AM

In his bid for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama benefited from an unusually high outpouring of support from students and first-time voters in the primaries.

Now, one of his closest allies in the Senate has introduced legislation that could help boost Obama’s support among students even more in the general election against the Republican candidate, Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

Sen. Richard Durbin, also of Illinois, has introduced a bill in the Senate that would require all colleges and universities that receive federal fund to offer voter registration services to students.

“Making registration applications automatic will remove one burden preventing young people from getting involved in the democratic process,” Durbin said in a statement accompanying his legislation.

In 1998, Congress required colleges and universities to make a “good faith effort” to register students to vote. But a 2004 Harvard University study found that only 17 percent of colleges and universities nationwide fully comply with the law.

In fact, in the 2004 presidential election, only 47 percent of 18-24 year-olds voted, compared to 66 percent of those 25 and older - the eighth consecutive presidential contest in which less than half of young Americans actually participated.

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