Operating Instruction 2.3.1.1 Student Voter Registration

System Procedures
 Chapter 2 - Students

Access a PDF copy of this operating instruction

for Board Policy 2.3

Part 1. Purpose
 To promote civic engagement and voter registration by ensuring students attending Minnesota State colleges and universities are provided the opportunity to register to vote as early as possible in the fall semester.

Part 2. Definitions

Consultation
 An act or process that seeks an opinion from the campus student association which is considered during the decision-making process. Consultation includes presentation of materials, discussion, and an opportunity for students to ask questions and/or provide feedback during a meeting.

Student housing
 Housing for students that is owned, leased, or managed by colleges and universities of Minnesota State.

Voter Registration Form
 A physical or electronic voter registration form provided by the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office and/or third party online voter registration website.

Part 3. Voter Registration Process
 Students eligible to vote and attending Minnesota State colleges and universities are encouraged to exercise their right to vote. By registering to vote and voting in elections, students fulfill the civic responsibility of selecting candidates to represent them, their ideas, and their interests. Students participating in the democratic process are ensuring they have a voice in their government.

Colleges and universities are responsible for:

  1. Transmitting a message of referral to a centralized voter registration website or platform that provides voter registration forms. Each campus shall identify one person to be the “Campus Vote Coordinator” to ensure compliance with this procedure. The Coordinator’s contact information must be posted on the institution’s website.
  2. Consulting with their campus student association to determine the most effective means of distributing voter registration forms, supporting election day registration of students, and how to promote ‘get out the vote’ activities.
  3. Providing students living in college or university student housing with a physical voter registration form when completing housing check-in paperwork.
  4. Providing students attending on-campus orientation with a physical voter registration form or access to the online form.
  5. Providing students attending an online orientation with a link to the Minnesota Secretary of State’s website or another centralized voter registration website or platform that provides voter registration forms.
  6. Communicating to students who reside in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa or Wisconsin as early as possible in the fall semester the instructions for how students may register to vote, making available information regarding State registration deadlines, residency requirements, and absentee voting, as applicable.
  7. Communicating a reminder to students after the voter registration deadline has passed, on how they can register to vote on Election Day.
  8. Ensuring that all physical Minnesota voter registration forms received from students at the campus are submitted in timely manner to the Minnesota Secretary of State or county elections office.

Related Documents:

To view any of the following related statutes, go to the Revisor's Office website. You can conduct a search from this site by typing in the statute number.

  • Minn. Stat. § 201.061 Registration on or Before Election Day
  • Minn. Stat. § 201.1611 Postsecondary Institution and School District Voter Registration

Operating Instruction History:

Date of Adoption: 05/16/22
Date of Implementation: 05/16/22
Date of Last Review:

Date & Subject of Amendments:

 

No additional HISTORY.

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