Is It Still A Lesser Of Two Evils Election When She's Not As Good As You'd Like And... He's Satan?

Republicans Have Illegally Erected Roadblocks To Student Voting

The first time I voted was 1972 at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. I turned 18 in 1966 when I was in college but 18 years old were for drafting into the military, not voting. (At demonstrations, we used to chant, “old enough to fight, old enough to vote.”) In 1968 I was still in college but still not 21. There was a big stink because the Suffolk County Republican Party— as reactionary then as it still is today— was trying to prevent students who were 21 from voting in the county, telling them they had to go vote in Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau or wherever they were from. That was a GOP tactic nationwide and caused a lot of unrest among students. In 1971 three-quarters of the states ratified the 26th Amendment which made 18 the year every American could vote. My Brooklyn congressman, conservative Democrat Emanuel Celler, led the opposition to the 26th Amendment claiming 18 year olds lacked the good judgment to vote. When we defeated him in the 1972 primary, he was 84 and senile and absolutely lacking the good judgment to vote. 18 other conservative scumbags voted with Celler against the Amendment. The states that never ratified it included 5 of the most historically reactionary, education-hating states in the country— they were then and they still are today— Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Dakota and Utah.

Residency requirements were still a hodgepodge of rules and regulations, with conservatives always trying to make it more difficult for college students to vote and Democrats always trying to guarantee that college students could vote where they lived. Recently, Republicans in New Hampshire, Texas and Florida have erected various legislative barriers to prevent student voting.

Historically, outcomes of college student voting rights lawsuits have varied across states, often depending on local court decisions and persistent legal challenges by civil rights groups. In New Hampshire, for example, a 2017 law (Senate Bill 3) required students to provide documentation showing an intent to establish residency— an extra burden for out-of-state students. This law was ultimately struck down in 2020, with the court finding it discouraged students from participating by creating unnecessary hurdles. However, the state legislature has continued to introduce new proposals aimed at complicating student voting, so litigation remains ongoing as each new restriction is challenged.

In Texas, there have been restrictions on voting access for students, particularly in Hays County. Initially, the county attempted to limit early voting sites on the Texas State University campus, but a public pressure campaign and legal threats led officials to reopen the campus voting location. This resulted in a significant increase in student turnout, illustrating that access to on-campus voting makes a meaningful difference. And in Florida, restrictive voting measures include attempts to bar early voting sites on college campuses. A notable federal court decision in 2018 blocked the state from implementing a ban on campus voting sites, finding the restriction unconstitutional under the 26th Amendment. This ruling allowed Florida college campuses to offer early voting, though new legislative proposals targeting student voters continue to emerge.

In the run-up to the current election, Republicans see the massive disparity between support for Kamala (52%) and lack of support for Trump (39%) and— instead of trying to win students over with their policy arguments— stick with their tried and true strategy: undermining their right to vote.

Yesterday, US Today published Getting out the college vote: It's more crucial— and complicated— than ever. Zach Schermele reported that Republicans have passed a new “spate of restrictive voting measures” aimed at college students.in part because they blame student turn-out in 2022 for killing their “red wave.” He wrote that “Their increasing political reliability, bucking long-held perceptions, has been a clear priority for both parties in the weeks and months leading up to Tuesday’s general election. The trend could play a decisive role in the presidential contest and down-ballot races, which could determine which party has control of Congress.  College-age voters have traditionally been considered less dependable than other voting blocs. That was until 2020, after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and on the heels of a nationwide racial reckoning, when half of the 18- to 29-year-old voting population turned out, marking what a Tufts University analysis called ‘likely one of the highest rates of youth electoral participation since the voting age was lowered to 18.’ Two years later, the same group of voters had a ‘decisive impact’ in key swing-state races.

[Y]oung voters aren’t as fickle as they used to be. But those climbing turnout rates have come amid complications. 

Since 2020, at least 30 states have enacted dozens of restrictive voting laws, 18 of which were put in place this year, according to the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice. Many of those measures impact college students, the bulk of whom might be unaware their universities have a legal obligation to make it easier for them to register to vote.

… Republicans have taken umbrage with Biden administration guidance issued in February that says nonpartisan get-out-the-vote efforts qualify for federal work-study, a government program that helps lower-income college students pay tuition and fees with part-time jobs. The GOP’s frustration with the directive highlights how fearful some politicians are of the prospect of broader participation by college students in the political process. 

… In 1998, Congress almost unanimously passed legislation, signed by former President Bill Clinton, requiring schools to do more to help students vote. To remain compliant with federal law, schools must make a “good faith” effort to distribute voter registration forms, according to the American Council on Education, the main advocacy group for colleges in Washington, D.C. … Noncompliance with federal laws can have consequences, including loss of federal funding.

In addition to being a swing state that could deliver the presidency to Trump or Harris, North Carolina is among several states where restrictive measures have created additional barriers to college students casting ballots. 

In 2018, the state’s [right-wing] legislature passed a law requiring North Carolinians to show physical ID cards to vote. The law was put on hold for several years until Republicans on the state [right-wing] Supreme Court allowed it to proceed in 2023. 

The measure prompted confusion across college campuses in October after the North Carolina Board of Elections ruled in a case involving the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that digital ID cards wouldn’t meet the law’s standards. Sam Hiner, a senior at UNC, said the “eleventh-hour” decision caused frustration for some students. 

“That threw everything into a little bit of chaos here,” he said. “Especially with out-of-state students, it put them in quite a bind.” 

College students who move to new states have a right to vote where they're attending school, legal scholars say. They don't always update their paperwork or IDs, however, which can create extra obstacles for out-of-staters to verify their identities.

There seem to be dueling efforts in some states, some making it harder for college students to vote and others broadening access to the ballot box, said Peter McDonough, the top lawyer at the American Council on Education.

McDonough emphasized that 41 states, including some hyperfocused on election security, have enacted expansive voting laws. Still, he said the harsher regulations have taken a toll.

Take Ohio: In January 2023, the state's governor, a Republican, passed a voter ID law that limited how out-of-state students can verify their identities to cast ballots. If students didn’t have a passport, military ID, Ohio driver’s license or Ohio-issued state ID card, they could be out of luck, McDonough said. 

“What do you do with that?” he said. “These are the kinds of challenges students are facing.” 

In its endorsement of Kamala Friday— Kamala Harris Is Not Our Savior. But a Donald Trump Win Would Be Catastrophic— Teen Vogue editor-in-chief Versha Sharma wrote that “I have been closely following younger generations’ collective disbelief at the Biden administration’s support of the Israeli government during its all-out assault on Gaza, following the brutal terror attack from Hamas last Oct. 7— including the horrific killing of civilians in Gaza, the targeting of journalists and aid workers, and the reports of children being shot in the head. [She moved towards describing genocide but didn’t want to use the explosive word.] The Democrats’ policy on Israel has been disastrous. What is also true: Trump would, somehow, be even worse.”

“The biggest piece of evidence for this,” she wrote, “is that Benjamin Netanyahu, the right-wing prime minister of Israel who is hellbent on the destruction of civilian life in Gaza as well as subverting democratic processes in Israel itself, almost certainly wants Trump to win. After meeting with Kamala Harris earlier this year, Netanyahu was reportedly ‘furious,’ including at her statement that the Israeli military should withdraw from Gaza entirely. Trump has said Gaza could be beautiful beachfront property— for his rich oligarch friends, we can assume, not for any Indigenous peoples living there. He’s called Biden a ‘Palestinian’ like it’s a slur. His running mate, JD Vance, has said they wouldn’t “micromanage” Netanyahu the way Biden and Harris have been. What’s worse than the horrors we’re currently seeing? More, more, and more of it, if Trump wins the presidency again, with truly no end in sight, giving Netanyahu a blank check for continued destruction. (Remember that Israeli families of hostages still held in Gaza are also deeply angry with Netanyahu and have been protesting his actions and demanding a ceasefire for months.)”

Allowing Trump back into the White House would create another five-alarm fire every day, making it impossible for us to effectively organize. In his inauguration speech in Jan. 2017, Trump spoke about “American carnage,” laying out a dark vision for the country, one ruled by fear without any basis in reality. Seven days later, he instituted his “Muslim ban,” and mass protests erupted immediately. Community organizers rushed to airports in New York where hundreds of travelers were stranded upon landing in the U.S.; immigration lawyers did the same. Refugees couldn’t get in. Legal immigrants couldn’t get in. It was chaos, and the first week of his presidency.

Trump went on to forcibly separate parents from children at the U.S.-Mexico border; ignored a deadly public health crisis with the onset of COVID-19; held congressionally approved aid to Ukraine ransom while he tried to blackmail their leaders into opening investigations about Biden in 2020, in an attempt to help Trump win re-election; and appointed three Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade, paving the way for unnecessary deaths and the criminalization of abortion.

Autocrats thrive on overwhelming people. President Trump overwhelmed us every single day.

“To stop crises like genocides, climate change, and pandemics, we need strong mass movements,” writes Dr. Lucky Tran, a science communicator based in New York City. “But when more people are vulnerable to deportation, sickness, poverty, discrimination etc, it’s much harder to build strong movements. The living conditions under which we organize matter.

“Allowing far-right governments to hold power harms people and greatly weakens social movements. Voting alone is insufficient to win justice, but ignoring its importance makes it much harder to achieve. To win, we need to use all the tools available, including strategic voting.”

Dr. Tran is elucidating a conclusion many progressive activists and organizers have come to: that we must view voting as a chess move to get us closer to the outcome we all want.

… I do not feel comfortable watching things get worse for women, LGBTQIA+ communities, Palestinians, Ukrainians, and more when I know I have the power to affect that outcome.

The Biden-Harris administration has already made progress on eliminating student debt, and Harris has worthwhile policy proposals on abortion, housing, childcare, eldercare and more. The vice president cast the tie-breaking vote in the passage of the Biden administration’s signature achievement on climate change, the Inflation Reduction Act. If you think any of that isn't good enough— join the activists voting for her while vowing to continue pushing for better and more comprehensive policies.

We would be constrained in even expressing dissent in a Trump administration. He has talked about shooting protestors, jailing his opponents and critics, and taking action against media who dare to report honestly on him, including revoking licenses for broadcast news he disagrees with. Teen Vogue itself could be held liable under a Trump administration— there is a world where we could face punishment for publishing something like this.

I feel pretty confident that a majority of Americans do not support Trump. He’s lost the popular vote twice now; it’s why he’s set the stage for baselessly claiming election fraud or encouraging political violence as a means to hold onto power.

But that majority will only make a difference if we turn out to vote and organize.

It’s not enough to beat a fascist with razor-thin margins; ideally, we need to run up the margin of victory so high it becomes that much harder for Trump and his cronies to claim they represent the will of the American people. It’s why voting even in “safely blue” or “safely red” states matters. To achieve a more equitable America, we need to pay attention to the democratic popular vote— and if Harris wins, we’ll have Vice President Tim Walz, who believes, as so many of us do, that “the Electoral College needs to go.” 

I know we’ve all compartmentalized in various ways to even make it this close to Election Day. We’ve avoided the news or ignored headlines and stories because we need to get on with our lives. But democracy is not guaranteed. It is a group effort that requires we all be involved.

Right now, we have the power to stop Trump. Should he win, we may not have these tools at our disposal again. Trump is on the record telling conservative Christians he just needs them to vote this year and then they won’t have to vote again. “Four more years, it’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine, you won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians,” he said this summer, one of many comments that should have set off a weeks-long scandalous news cycle but got subsumed by, well, everything else. He has an army of election deniers ready to do his corrupt, anti-democratic bidding.

There are any number of things you can do right now through Election Day: volunteer, phone bank, canvass or knock on doors, write postcards or letters, offer to drive people to the polls, volunteer as a poll worker. If you’ve never called voters in your life, now is the time to try it. It can be challenging, but life under a Trump-Vance administration would be infinitely more so.

Hillary Clinton comfortably won the popular vote in 2016— by millions— but lost the electoral college by razor-thin margins, in part because people thought they couldn’t make a difference, or that it was work best left up to somebody else.

No one is coming to save us. We have to save ourselves, and each other. Any of the issues you care about will be impossible to fight for under a Trump administration.

If you’ve got any anxiety or concern about this election, I urge you to channel that into action. There’s no more putting it off or tuning it out. This is it.

Don’t wake up on Nov. 6 and wish you had done more. Do it now. You still have time.