Student Voting Guide | District of Columbia
This student voting guide explains the laws for the District of Columbia. If you wish to vote from your school address, check the student voter guide for the state where you attend school. If you want to cast an absentee ballot in your home state, check the student voting guide for that state.
The Brennan Center is committed to giving students as much information as possible to help you exercise your constitutional right to vote. More than ever in recent history, changes to voting laws are being implemented in ways that can affect your ability to make your vote count. In addition to the content you will find in this Student Voting Guide, a report that we issued last year documents a number of these changes and we continue to track passed and pending voting law changes here. While we are working to give you up-to-date information, we urge you to be proactive! In order to ensure you have all the information you need before casting your vote, you should also check with your local election officials for information about additional requirements or regulations.
This voting guide was last updated in March 2012.
You may register to vote prior to Election Day either in person or by mail; you may also register at the polls on Election Day. You can preregister to vote once you are 16 years old, but you cannot vote in an election until you turn 18.[1] You can register to vote in person at the Board of Elections office at any time, but you will not be able to change your party affiliation less than 30 days before the election.[2] If you mail in your voter registration form, it must be postmarked 30 days before an election.[3] The last day to register by mail for the 2012 general election is October 9, 2012.
D.C. also offers Election Day registration at the polling place associated with your residence.[4] In order to register on Election Day, you will need to complete a voter registration application, sign an oath, and provide proof of your residency address, using one of the forms of ID listed in the section on Identification, below.[5] Registeration forms are available here.
The District of Columbia defines residency as the “principal or primary home” of a person.[6] Your residency address is the place to which you intend to return after being away.[7] The following factors may be considered evidence of residency: business pursuits, employment, income sources, residence for tax purposes, residency of family, where you rent, where your personal property is located, and where your car is registered.[8] If you register to vote in D.C., your signed registration form creates a presumption that you’re a resident of D.C.[9]
At School. Students can establish residency in the District of Columbia if they have a present intention to remain at their D.C. school address for the time being, and they intend to make it their principal home.[10] Any other interpretation of the residency laws is unconstitutional. Students attending school in the District of Columbia can establish residency in D.C. if their school address is their principal or primary home.[11] The D.C. courts have made clear that students need only meet the same standards as other voters in establishing residency.[12] Your plans after graduation don’t necessarily affect your current intention to be a D.C. resident.
At Home. D.C. explicitly allows students who lived in D.C. before moving elsewhere to attend school to keep their voting residency in D.C., so long as you do not register to vote in another state.[13] You do not lose residency in D.C. if you temporarily move to another state or territory.[14] While registering to vote in another state is not automatically considered an abandonment of residency in D.C., some judges or officials might view it as such. If you have established residence in another state and are moving back to D.C. with the intent to reside here, you will have to follow the normal registration procedures to re-register in D.C.
Voting in D.C. may be considered a declaration of residency, potentially subjecting you to other laws that govern district residents. For example, if you are driving in D.C., you should be aware that registering to vote in D.C. obligates you to get a D.C. driver’s license and register your car there.[15] You have 30 days after you become a D.C. resident to obtain a license and register your vehicle.[16]
Challenges to Residency. The chief registration official has the initial discretion to reject your registration on the basis of residency.[17] If your registration is initially rejected, you will be given the reasons for that rejection and are entitled to notice informing you of your right to appeal.[18]Additionally, any registered voter may challenge your registration if they believe you are not a bona fide resident, up to 45 days before an election.[19] If your residency is challenged, you will receive notice of the challenge and the evidence given in the challenge; you will have 30 days to respond or your registration will automatically be cancelled.[20] Within ten days of your response, the chief registration officer will make a decision.[21]
You may appeal the decision to reject your voter registration by requesting a hearing within two weeks of when notice was mailed to you.[22] The Board of Elections will hold a hearing within 30 days of receiving your request; at the hearing, you will be able to give testimony.[23] The Board will issue a decision within two days of the hearing.[24] You can appeal the Board’s decision to the superior court within three days.[25] If any part of the process is pending on Election Day, you may vote a “challenged” ballot.[26]
At the polls, any registered voter can challenge your vote on the basis of your residency.[27] The challenger must set out the challenge in writing, including: your name, the basis of the challenge, and the evidence provided to support their challenge.[28] The challenger must sign a sworn statement that the challenge is based on “substantial evidence” individual to you.[29] If you are challenged in this way, you will be given a chance to respond.[30] The head poll worker will make a decision; if they decide you are eligible, and the challenger does not appeal, you can vote a regular ballot.[31] If the challenger does appeal to the Board of Elections, a hearing with the Board will be held by telephone; if the Board decides you are eligible, you can vote a regular ballot[32] If the poll worker decides you are ineligible, or the challenger appeals and the Board decides you are ineligible, you will have to vote a challenged ballot.[33] The Board of Elections will review your challenged ballot and decide whether to count your vote or not.[34] They will inform you of their decision, and you will have another chance to argue that your vote should be counted,[35] and you have the right to appeal to court.[36]
You will have to show identification (see Acceptable ID list below) at the polls if you are a first-time voter who registered by mail.[37] However, you will not need to show identification at the polls if your mail-in registration included either a copy of your identification or, a driver’s license number or the last four digits of your social security number that matched government records.[38]
You will also have to show identification (see Acceptable ID list below) if you register at the polls.[39] In order to vote a regular ballot, you will have to show identification.[40] If you do not have ID, you will be able to cast a special ballot, which will be counted if the Board of Elections is able to verify your residence.[41]
Acceptable ID for both first-time voters who registered by mail and for voters who register at the polls includes a current and valid government photo ID or a copy of a current utility bill (including online printouts and student housing bills), bank statement, government check, or pay check that shows your name and address.[42] Student IDs and cell phone bills will not count as ID; however, you may use a housing assignment form or tuition or housing bills from District colleges and universities.[43]
D.C. allows absentee voting for any reason.[44] Your request for an absentee ballot must be received by the seventh day before the election.[45] Blank absentee ballot applications are available on the website of the Board of Elections and may be submitted online, by mail, or in person at the Board of Election’s office.[46] Your completed absentee ballot must be submitted in person or by mail, and received or postmarked by Election Day.[47] You can deliver your ballot in person to either the Board of Elections office or to any D.C. polling place.[48] If you mail in your ballot, it must be postmarked by the day of the election.[49]
As a convenience to voters, D.C. has early voting 7 days before Election Day.[50] You can find the early voting locations and times on the Board of Elections webpage.
Last Updated in March 2012
[1] D.C. Code § 1-1001.07(a-2) (2012).
[2] D.C. Code § 1-1001.07(g)(4).
[3] D.C. Code § 1-1001.07(g)(1).
[4] D.C. Code § 1-1001.07(g)(5).
[5] D.C. Code § 1-1001.07(g)(5).
[6] D.C. Code § 1-1001.02(16)(A) (2010).
[7] D.C. Code § 1-1001.02(16)(A) (2010).
[8] D.C. Code § 1-1001.02(16)(B) (2010).
[9] Scolaro v. Bd. of Elections and Ethics, 691 A.2d 77, 92–93 (D.C. Ct. App. 1997).
[10] See Dunn v. Blumstein, 405 U.S. 330, 330 (1972); Williams v. Salerno, 792 F.2d 323, 328 (2d Cir. 1986).
[11] D.C. Code § 1-1001.02(16)(A) (2010).
[12] Scolaro v. Bd. Of Elections and Ethics, 691 A.2d 77, 86 (D.C. Ct. App. 1997).
[13] The District of Columbia provides that you will neither gain nor lose residency due solely to your status as a student. D.C. Code § 1-1001.02(16)(E).
[14] D.C. Code § 1-1001.02(16)(C).
[15] D.C. Code § 50-1401.02(e)(3).
[16] D.C. Code §50-1401.02(a).
[17] D.C. Code § 1-1001.07(e)(3).
[18] D.C. Code § 1-1001.07(e)(3).
[19] D.C. Code § 1-1001.07(e)(5)(A); D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 3 § 521 (2012).
[20] D.C. Code § 1-1001.07(e)(5)(B).
[21] D.C. Code §1-1001.07(e)(5)(C) (2010).
[22] D.C. Code § 1-1001.07(f).
[23] D.C. Code § 1-1001.07(f).
[24] D.C. Code § 1-1001.07(f).
[25] D.C. Code § 1-1001.07(f).
[26] D.C. Code § 1-1001.07(f).
[27] D.C. Code § 1-1001.09(d)(1).
[28] D.C. Code § 1-1001.09(d)(1)..
[29] D.C. Code § 1-1001.09(d)(1).
[30] D.C. Code § 1-1001.09(d)(1).
[31] D.C. Code § 1-1001.09(d)(4).
[32] D.C. Code § 1-1001.09(d)(4–7).
[33] D D.C. Code § 1-1001.09(d)(8).
[34] D.C. Code § 1-1001.09(d)
[35] D.C. Code § 1-1001.09(d)(3).
[36] D.C. Code § 1-1001.09(d)(4).
[37] D.C. Code § 1-1001.07(i)(6).
[38] D.C. Code § 1-1001.07(i)(6)(A).
[39] D.C. Code § 1-1001.07(g)(5).
[40] D.C. Code § 1-1001.07(g)(5).
[41] D.C. Code § 1-1001.07(g)(5).
[42] D.C. Code § 1-1001.07(i)(6). See also Election Day, D.C. Bd. of Elections & Ethics, http://www.dcboee.org/faq/election_day.asp (last visited Mar. 6, 2012).
[43] D.C. Bd. of Elections & Ethics, http://www.dcboee.us/ (last visited Mar. 6, 2012).
[44] D.C. Code § 1-1001.09(b)(2).
[45] D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 3 § 717.4.
[46] See Absentee Ballot Request Form, D.C. Bd. of Elections & Ethics, http://www.dcboee.org/voter_info/absentee_ballot/ab_step1.asp (last visited on Mar. 6, 2012).
[47] D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 3 § 717.10.
[48] D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 3 § 717.10.
[49] D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 3 § 717.11.
[50] D.C. Code § 1-1001.09(b-1); D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 3 § 703.
