Maricopa Promotes Voter Registration

This November, Maricopa county voters will have the opportunity not only to participate in the selection of a new US President, but also to help decide issues of particular interest to the Maricopa Community College District. This edition of In Brief presents the first of two articles addressing legal concerns that affect a citizen's right to vote.

Thanks to recent federal legislation, US colleges and universities will now assume an active role in efforts to encourage voter registration. According to the 1998 Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, an institution of higher education must make a "good faith effort to distribute a mail voter registration form . . . to each student enrolled in a degree or certificate program and physically in attendance at the institution, and to make such forms widely available to students at the institution."

The voter registration forms must be available sufficiently in advance of an election to allow registrants to vote. Each school must obtain the forms from its state elections agency.

Authority over state elections in Arizona is reposed in the office of the Secretary of State. At the Maricopa Community Colleges, expect to find:

• voter registration forms and information fliers available at a central location on each campus. Voter registration forms will be available by April 12, 2004. The deadline for registration to vote in the November 2004 election is October 11, 2004.
• links on college home pages to the Secretary of State's website (www.soaz.com). The Secretary of State will accept copies of the voter registration form printed from the website on regular paper stock, signed by the applicant and mailed.
• other college-wide efforts aimed at increasing participation in elections among Maricopa students.

The Fall 2000 edition In Brief addressed political activity on a community college campus, with a focus on what the law does--and does not--allow.