Students at Iowa’s public universities would not be allowed to vote early on campus under a wide-ranging election bill that advanced in the Iowa Senate this week.
The expansive measure would also make changes to other state election laws. Should it become law, the bill would shorten the number of hours polling places are open on Election Day, change the rules for absentee ballots to require them to be delivered by the time the polls close and require a county’s property tax information to be included on the ballot for bond measures.
One of the bill’s provisions would prevent satellite voting locations from being set up “in any state-owned building.” Critics say that unfairly targets the state’s three public universities — the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa — while allowing private schools to continue providing satellite voting opportunities on campus.
Those who voted at the University of Iowa sites in the last two elections tended to be overwhelmingly Democratic.
And it looks like they are making a bogus “uniformity” argument to justify the anti-student provision. Here’s why such “uniformity” arguments don’t hold water.