Summary of Federal Laws

Miscellaneous Laws that Might Apply

Voter Registration Provision in Higher Education Amendments of 1998

Pub. L. No. 105-244, 112 Stat. 1581 (1998)

The Higher Education Amendments of 1998 added a new provision to the Program Participation Agreements that requires institutions to make a good faith effort to distribute voter registration forms to each student in attendance.  This law does not apply in states without a voter registration requirement, or if the voter can register at the time of voting.  The institution requests and receives the forms from the state and must make the forms "widely available" to each student enrolled in a degree or certificate program and physically in attendance at the institution.  According to H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 105-750, at ___ (1998), reprinted in U.S.C.C.A.N. ____, ____, "[t]he process for distributing forms should be designed to ensure that each student . . . is offered the form or the opportunity to receive a form from the institution.   This may include, but is not limited to, providing a phone prompt when the student registers via telephone or a similar prompt during registration that is carried out via the internet or by facsimile."  The institution must request the forms from the state 120 days prior to the deadline for registering to vote.  If the state does not send sufficient forms to the institution within 60 days prior to the voter registration deadline, the institution is not liable for failure to comply with the law for that election year. 

Online Registration Forms in DC, MD, VA

Many states have voter registration forms online.  The form for the District of Columbia is available online, along with links to other states. In the District of Columbia, your mail in form must be postmarked at least thirty days before an election for you to vote in that election For the Nov. 7, 2006 election, forms must be mailed by Oct. 10, 2006.*  For more see the DC Voter Registration page. See also the Maryland Voter Registration page. You are not considered eligible to vote in Maryland until you receive your card in the mail. The application states it must be received 21 days before an election.  The Virginia Voter Registration Form must be postmarked 29 days before the election in which you plan to vote.

A number of states now have voter registration forms online, and the institution can send emails or otherwise provide the student with the necessary information about voter registration without actually obtaining and distrubuting paper forms, although actual distribution of forms may be the most visible way to get the attention of the student population. See Your Voice Your Vote for ideas on how to publicize voter registration information.

This law applies to general and special elections for federal office (defined in Section 301(3) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, 2 U.S.C. § 431(3), as the office of President or Vice President, or Senator or Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress) and the election for governor or other chief executive within such state.

Failure to comply with any of the provisions of the Higher Education Program Participation Agreements can result in liability not to exceed $25,000 for each violation.

Text of Voter Registration Act as of June 2006: