[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 55 (Thursday, April 25, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4190-S4191]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BINGAMAN:
  S. 1702. A bill to require institutions of higher education to 
provide voter registration information and opportunities to students 
registering for class, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Rules and Administration.


               the student voter registration act of 1996

  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation 
that I believe will effectively increase voter registration among 
college and university students and will positively change the voting 
patterns of this Nation.
  Mr. President, currently there are over 15 million college students 
across this country who are eligible to vote. This highly concentrated 
group of individuals, when allowed increased access to voter 
registration, can be a very powerful and influential political voice. 
The legislation I am introducing today provides colleges and 
universities the mechanisms and the opportunities to increase voter 
registration among college students so that they can be an active and 
visible political force within our country.
  College and university students are one of the most highly mobile 
constituent groups in this country and our voter registration systems 
have not been entirely effective in empowering our Nation's college 
students to register and to vote. It is estimated that college students 
in America move on

[[Page S4191]]

an average of twice a year. To continue to vote, college students must 
re-register to vote or change their address every year. No other 
constituent group in America faces such a significant barrier. My 
legislation will empower college and university students to overcome 
this barrier.
  Mr. President, this bill, which may be cited as the Student Voter 
Registration Act of 1996, will amend the National Voter Registration 
Act of 1993. It will require all colleges and universities that receive 
Federal funds, have 2-year or 4-year programs of instructions and 
confer associate, baccalaureate or graduate degrees, to provide voter 
registration opportunities and forms, including absentee ballots, to 
students at the time of class registration. Although the National Voter 
Registration Act of 1993 has made significant advances in the voter 
registration arena, this legislation will reach out and assist an 
additional constituency group.
  According to a recent study prepared by the Harwood Group for the 
Kettering Foundation, students feel alienated from the current 
political process and pessimistic about the prospects for change. This 
same study challenged America's students ``to be more aware of the 
power and possibility that lie(s) in their own innate capacity for 
common action.'' The legislation allows students to overcome the 
political barriers currently placed before them by a system that has 
not fully recognized their needs and their power.
  If you look at youth participation compared to all eligible voters in 
Presidential elections from 1972 to 1992, you can see the red column 
shows that 64 percent of eligible voters voted in the 1992 election, 
and 43 percent of those in the age group 18 to 24, went to the polls in 
1992 to express their political views.
  When you look at the same comparison of eligible voters to this age 
group 18 to 24 in midterm elections, from 1974 to 1994, the disparity 
is even greater. Among all eligible voters the percentage is 45 
percent. Among this age group it is 20 percent. We need to take action 
to deal with that.
  The legislation I am introducing today would amend the law to provide 
that voter registration opportunities exist in much larger numbers for 
this age group.
  I think it is important legislation for us to enact and to do so, 
hopefully, before we get too much further into this election year.
  As these charts behind me show, for the past 24 years, 18 to 24-year-
olds have had a significantly lower voter participation rate as 
compared to all eligible voters. For example, in the 1992 Presidential 
election, of young people in the 18 to 24-year-old age category 
eligible to vote, only 53 percent had registered to vote and only 43 
percent of eligible young people actually voted. During the last 
midterm election, 40 percent of young people age 18 to 24 were 
registered to vote and only half of them voted. That is less than 20 
percent Mr. President. These numbers are staggering when compared to 
the numbers of all eligible voters who turned out to vote. In 1994's 
midterm election, 45 percent of eligible voters went to the polls to 
express their political views. In the last Presidential election over 
60 percent of eligible voters went to the polls to vote. Mr. President, 
in 1992, youth participation reached its highest level--43 percent--
since 1972, the first year that 18 to 24-year-olds were eligible to 
vote. We need to continue this upward trend. The bill I am bringing to 
the Senate floor is a solid mechanism for this.
  Mr. President, this is not a partisan issue. I do not stand here in 
the Senate today in an effort to increase registration for my party, 
but instead I hope this legislation will increase registration and 
political involvement among students regardless of party affiliation.
  Mr. President, anyone who believes that this is a partisan issue 
needs to just look at this final chart that I have here. It is clear 
that when you look at this age group, in this case 18- to 29-year-olds, 
the numbers, in terms of party affiliation for Democrats versus 
Republicans is almost identical.
  Again, this is not a partisan issue. This is not a way to get more 
Democrats registered at the expense of the Republicans, or vice versa. 
It is a way to get more young Americans registered and to get them 
participating in our political system. What is important is that 
students have every opportunity to register--not what party they align 
themselves with and not how they chose to vote. This bill gives college 
and university students the opportunity to register and provides 
accessibility to registration forms.
  As the American people look ahead to the 1996 election, it is 
important that we began to establish the foundation for an effective 
dialogue regarding the electoral process. For many college students 
this may be the first general election they participate in and it is 
critical that they do participate. It is also critical, that we here in 
Congress accept the challenge of energizing America's college students 
and presenting them the opportunity to be an influential part of the 
development and the continuation of this great democracy.
  I commend this legislation to my colleagues, and I will file it with 
the clerk today and ask that it be appropriately referred.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1702

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Student Voter Registration 
     Act of 1996''.

     SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

       The purpose of this Act is--
       (1) to increase voter registration accessibility to 
     students; and
       (2) to increase voter participation among college and 
     university students.

     SEC. 3. AMENDMENT OF NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRATION ACT OF 1993.

       Section 7(a) of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 
     (42 U.S.C. 1973gg-5(a)) is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (2)--
       (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``and'';
       (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period at the end 
     and inserting ``; and''; and
       (C) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
       ``(C) each institution of higher education (as defined in 
     section 1201(a)) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
     U.S.C. 1141(a)) in that State that--
       ``(i) receives Federal funds; and
       ``(ii) provides a 2-year or 4-year program of instruction 
     for which the institution awards an associate, baccalaureate, 
     or graduate degree.''; and
       (2) in paragraph (6)(A), by inserting ``or, in the case of 
     an institution of higher education, with each registration of 
     a student for enrollment in a course of study,'' after 
     ``assistance,''.

     SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION.

       Institutions of higher education shall implement the 
     requirements of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 
     (42 U.S.C. 1973gg et seq.) as amended by this Act--
       (1) in the case of an institution with enrollment of not 
     less than 10,000 students on the date of enactment of this 
     Act, by 1997;
       (2) in the case of an institution with enrollment of not 
     less than 5,000 and not more than 9,999 students on the date 
     of enactment of this Act, by January 1, 1998;
       (3) in the case of an institution with enrollment of not 
     less than 2,000 and not more than 4,999 students on the date 
     of enactment of this Act, by January 1, 1999; and
       (4) in the case of an institution with enrollment of less 
     than 2,000 students on the date of enactment of this Act, by 
     January 1, 2000.
                                 ______