I once heard some townie arguing that college students shouldn’t have the right to vote because they’re only hear temporarily and the U gets all sorts of tax breaks and so on and so on . . .
Obviously he’s full of it, however this is an issue I’ve wrestled with for a while.
I’m a temporary resident of this area. Since I haven’t been here long, I’m completely unaquainted with long-running issues and local personalities. I could do some research, but I’m an impoverished student with neither a subscription to the local paper nor the time to read it. Furthermore, I’ll be outta here in a few years (the sooner the better), so my decision will have little effect on my life.
So should I really vote in local elections? I plan to vote for the prez and the senator, because I have no problem (or should I say no choice) getting educated about those races, and they’ll be relevant no matter where I end up going after school, but I’m not going to vote for the local offices.
I say go for and vote locally … that said, I choose not to.
Voting locally is pointless for me while I am in school. I have no plans to live here so local issues affect me over the short term only. I register while I am going to be living after school so I can be a part of the politics happening where I will live. That way I am not throwing my vote away on something that will not ultimately affect my long term life (or some shit like that)
Otherwise the newest segment will be unrepresented entirely.
Transients have rights, they pay taxes, they should be able to vote on anything. Just because a new person will live the old man’s house before the freeway is finished doesn’t mean he can’t help decide how to fund it for the next ten years.
You should definitely register to vote at your college, mainly so that stupid townie doesn’t try to deprive anyone else of his/her voting rights. Perhaps that guy should be told that property owning requirements for voting disappeared before the Civil War, because that’s what his argument really is.
Just vote for the offices you feel comfortable voting for. It’s a ballot, not an exam. You don’t have to fill everything out for it to count.
There are very few people in California whoever bother with the whole ballot.
I do, but I think I’m pretty anal in this respect. I’ve just got to vote for that water district representative.
Since I do not plan to remain in the area after I graduate school, I kept my voter registration in my old state (I use my mother’s address as my permanent legal residence) and vote by absentee ballot. That way I am voting in local elections that I know and care about.
That said, however, if you have changed your registration, by all means vote in any local election you feel comfortable about. Just because people have opinions doesn’t mean you have to heed them.
If you have any plans of staying in the area after you graduate, yes, definitely vote there. Otherwise, it’s up to you whether to vote locally or vote absentee ballot back home.
Since local laws, taxes, etc. will apply to you while you’re going to school there, there is no reason to feel you cannot vote for the people who will pass the laws, etc. (especially if there are races or propositions that will have a major effect on you or the school while you’re there), however, if you feel that it would be better for you to vote in your hometown (especially if there are any races or propositions that will have a major effect (particularly those that will have a long-term effect)), don’t feel you have an obligation to vote locally.
That’s what I did when I was in college, but now I’m in grad school, and for strange insurance reasons it was best for me to become a resident of this state.