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Most of you probably heard about the ruling by Judge Jim Brands on election night that all college students in Dutchess County must vote by affidavit ballots, even if everything was completely in order. This was just one part of an effort to systematically harass, intimidate, and suppress the student vote orchestrated by the GOP across Dutchess County.
Some background information is in order. Up until 2000, Dutchess County was one of very few counties, possibly the only county in the entire nation, to deny college students the right to vote where they resided nine months out of the year. About two or three years prior to that, a group of students attending Bard College and Vassar College filed a class-action lawsuit against the County Board of Elections to process the registrations of students without subjecting them to discriminatory practices designed to prevent their registration from being accepted. While the case was tied up in the courts, a bipartisan committee was formed by the County Legislature to review the issue of qualifications and procedures for college students who wish to vote in Dutchess County. It concluded that "As a society we should encourage every class of citizen to vote, and remove every impediment to voting for every class of citizen." Then Republican election commissioner Bill Paroli disagreed. Paroli, however, found himself preoccupied after he was arrested for fraud, extortion, and several other charges relating to corruption, and resigned in disgrace. Republicans chose current commissioner David Gamache (last seen refusing to do his job) to replace him, who eventually relented and began to process the registrations of students without discriminatory practices.
I am a student at Bard College, located in the Town of Red Hook. Like a lot of Dutchess County, and indeed, like much of rural New York in general, Red Hook is a traditional Republican stronghold which is rapidly trending Democratic. Bard routinely ranks as one of the most liberal colleges in the nation; as you might expect, we aren't exactly popular with the Red Hook GOP. Me and about a dozen other students volunteered our spare time on election day to coordinate campus GOTV, keep track of student turnout, make sure that people can get to the polling place, etc. |
| I voted at around 11:00, and at that point things seemed relatively quiet. There were the usual shenanigans with people taking pictures of us from bushes, a couple of County Sheriffs that probably shouldn't have been there (one of the Republican candidates is a part-time police officer), and of course not one but two Republicans challenging student voters at the polling place, which, as purely unintended consequence I'm sure, slowed down voting to a crawl.
Bard shares its voting district with the hamlet of Barrytown, which is also a Democratic stronghold. The district includes more registered voters than any other in Dutchess County, but, in clear violation of the law, only has one machine and one privacy booth. When I got there the atmosphere was already tense; the poll workers seemed frazzled and the Republican poll watchers skulked in the shadows waiting to challenge student votes. I told the poll worker my name, and was actually surprised when I found myself at the voting machine without having been challenged. Apparently, their list of Bard students was incomplete.
After my classes were over at 4:30, I headed back to the shuttle stop. I don't remember the exact timeline, but almost immediately after I got there we received word that the Republicans had filed an injunction against Vassar voters, and were about to do the same to Bard. A few minutes later we learned that they had successfully done so, and that the Democrats were working as quickly as possible to overturn the decision. The most complete account of this I could find is here. No sooner had we learned this, then Red Hook GOP Chairman Tim Ross came over from the Independence Party (which had endorsed almost all Republican candidates) booth and started to harass and intimidate students who wanted to vote. He came armed with the talking points from an anonymous flier posted around campus that deliberately misinformed voters in order to prevent them from voting. You'll get your financial aid taken away, you'll be subject to a fine, if you have put any other address on any form for anything you cannot claim this as your residence. He literally got into students' faces and wagged his finger at them as he screamed at them that they didn't have the right to vote.
Needless to say, I was getting rather annoyed, and started to argue with him. Fortunately, campus security turned up and asked him to either stop harassing students or to leave the campus. He refused to do either. Security was forced to call the state troopers to escort him off of campus. Apparently, he just went over to the polling site, where he not only continued to harass voters, but did so right outside the door of the polling site.
Meanwhile, about a quarter of Bard voters were being forced to fill out affidavit ballots. The poll watchers had apparently given up on their incomplete list, and instead began to challenge a random sample of young voters. One student was challenged because she neglected to dot the i in her signature; another was grabbed by the arm by one of the poll workers to prevent her from signing in. From what I heard, the polling place at this point had collapsed into near anarchy, with poll workers and poll watchers screaming at each other. Eventually, a police officer came to enforce something of a truce, but the atmosphere of the polling place was extremely negative and intimidating throughout election night. Even when I voted in the morning the feeling that one should leave as quickly as possible was almost overpowering.
Eventually, around 8:00 PM, the injunction was finally overturned, and around 8:30 PM the polling site actually started to recognize that, but the damage was done. Most students vote in that space between 5 and 8, and some of their votes did not count as a result of this injunction. Many more may have been intimidated by misinformation and the hostile atmosphere of the polling place into not voting. And that's just at Bard.
Vassar students probably faced even greater barriers to voting. I wasn't there, so I don't know exactly happened, but all student voters there had to use affidavit ballots for a time. The reasoning, being that because Vassar, in a stroke of Republican ingenuity, is split across three voting districts, students there may be voting in the wrong one. I don't think I have to point how cynical and audacious this tactic is. Unfortunately, now that Republicans have retaken the Dutchess County Legislature, I have no doubt that they will attempt to do the same to Bard.
I understand that there is an argument to be made that students should not vote locally. I disagree with it, but it's a completely legitimate opinion to hold. In fact, if someone who holds that opinion wants to come to Bard or Vassar or any college campus and debate someone on the ethics of voting locally, they are welcome to.
But the law is clear: students have the right to vote locally without fear of intimidation, harassment, or any other undue burdens on them. Infringing on that right is illegal by both state and federal law. Voter suppression may not be as sensational as dead men voting, but it is damaging to democracy all the same.
If politicians who support or are complicit in voter suppression aren't punished at the ballot box, they most likely never will be. The Republican Party of Dutchess County declared war on students Tuesday night; it is up to students and anyone who values democracy and the rule of law to fight back. |
