Montana Student Voting: A Half-Century-Old Right Faces Legal Challenge
A state judge has paused a new residency law, leaving thousands of students eligible to vote in the midterm elections despite a pending final ruling.
By Ethan Cook ·
Nearly fifty years after a Supreme Court ruling secured the right for students to vote where they study, a new legal battle in Montana has thrown that standard into question. The dispute centers on a restriction passed by the state legislature last year that targets residents in temporary educational programs.
The core of the legal conflict involves how the state defines residency for voting purposes. In 1979, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that eligible students have the right to register in the communities where they live during the academic year. Federal law requires that states apply residency standards consistently to all groups, preventing discrimination against specific demographics like students.
Montana’s new law imposed a specific condition on individuals in temporary educational programs. To register in a Montana county, these residents must intend to make that county or the state their permanent home at the end of their program. The Republican-controlled legislature argued that this rule would clarify the intent of voters who are only in the state for a short duration.
State officials have attempted to exempt college students from this restriction. In a court filing, they argued that obtaining a degree is not a temporary endeavor, and therefore the word temporary in the law does not apply to standard four-year undergraduate programs. They maintained that the restriction targets shorter-term educational pursuits rather than traditional university attendance.
Missoula County Judge Jason Marks has not accepted that interpretation. In a preliminary finding issued in February, he determined that the restriction likely violates the Montana constitution. He has blocked the new rule for now, which allows the previous residency requirements to remain in effect for the upcoming midterm elections. The judge is currently preparing a final ruling after holding a hearing this month.
The lawsuit was brought by the Montana Public Interest Research Group, known as MontPIRG. The organization claims the change could force thousands of eligible students to lose the ability to vote on local issues. They argue that the new requirement creates an unnecessary barrier for young voters who are legally permitted to choose their domicile for voting purposes.
Legal experts note that the concept of domicile is highly personal. Yael Bromberg, an attorney who co-edited a book on youth voting rights, explains that domicile is defined as the one fixed, permanent, principal home where one intends to return. For a student who does not yet know where they will live after graduation, this determination is an individualized assessment.
Michael Hanmer, a professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland, suggests that the current legal challenge may not survive scrutiny. He expressed surprise that an attempt to restrict students from voting if they are in Montana solely for educational purposes would hold up in court. He noted that while states can impose additional requirements on new residents, such as obtaining a new state ID or changing car registration, they must apply those rules to all new residents, not just college students.
