Montana judge halts student voting rule pending final decision

College students in Montana currently face a legal limbo as a state judge prepares a final ruling on whether a new residency law can restrict where they register to vote. The case determines if young voters must declare a permanent home in the state or if they can choose their campus community as their voting address during the academic year.

A 1979 Supreme Court ruling established that eligible students have the right to register in the communities where they live for the school year. However, questions about that right persist nearly fifty years later. The issue came to a head in Montana after the state’s Republican-controlled legislature passed a new restriction for "temporary" residents in educational programs last year.

Under the revised state law, these residents could only register in a Montana county if they intended to make that county or the state their permanent home upon finishing their program. State officials argued in court filings that the rule did not apply to university students because obtaining a two, four, or eight-year degree is not a temporary endeavor. They claimed the word "temporary" would be meaningless if applied to degree seekers.

Missoula County Judge Jason Marks has not accepted that interpretation. In February, he found that the restriction likely violates the Montana constitution. He is now preparing a final ruling after holding a hearing this month. The lawsuit was brought by the Montana Public Interest Research Group, known as MontPIRG, which represents student advocates.

MontPIRG argues that the change to the residency rule could force thousands of eligible students to lose the ability to vote on local community issues. If the new rule remains in effect, students would have to choose between voting in their college town or their family home, a decision that can be difficult for those who do not know where they will live after graduation.

Legal experts note that voting in the United States is tied to residency, but federal law sets ground rules to prevent states from treating specific groups differently. Michael Hanmer, a professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland, explained that college students must be treated the same as any other new resident. "You can't apply different standards to different groups of people," Hanmer said.

Yael Bromberg, an attorney who co-edited the book Youth Voting Rights, described the legal concept of "domicile" as the single, fixed, principal home where a person intends to return. For a student who may not know where they will live after graduation, that determination is highly personal and requires an individualized assessment rather than a one-size-fits-all state rule.

General eligibility in Montana requires a U.S. citizen to be 18 or older and a state resident for at least 30 days. The current legal battle leaves the previous rules in place for now, meaning students can register in their college counties for the midterm elections through Election Day. The judge's final decision will determine if those rules remain or if the new residency requirement takes effect.

Supporters of the new restriction told a public hearing last year that out-of-state student voters should not be able to affect state elections. Hanmer said he would be surprised if the attempt to restrict students voting in Montana for educational purposes holds up in court. He noted that while states can impose requirements like new state IDs or car registration changes on new residents, they cannot impose those rules solely on college students.