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The Nation, Asiah Williams:
Maya Patel, state coordinator for the Campus Vote Project, serves to help campuses institutionalize reforms that arm students with the information they need to register and vote. She believes that an overarching barrier for students is their unfamiliarity with the voting process. “In Texas, you can vote with a handgun license, but not with a student ID,” Patel said.
Voters without proper identification, according to VoteTexas, must present a passport or sign a Reasonable Impediment Declaration form, which must be done in-person. “I’ve even heard of students getting turned away for the address on their Texas ID not matching the address that they’re registered at,” Patel said. “That’s not a real requirement, but students just don’t know the laws well enough to argue with the poll worker.”
Outside forces are filling the civic education gap and meeting young people where they are: online. Twitter deleted over 10,000 anti-voting accounts just days before the 2016 election, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. It also cited that in an effort to reduce voter suppression messages, Facebook expanded its policies to include actions against misuse during elections.
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