GOP lawmaker faces backlash from students on dorm voting bill

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Many students would be affected by Republican Rep. Bob Thorpe’s HB2260.

HB2260 states that “dormitories or other temporary college address cannot be used to define residency for the purposes of voter registration.” In other words, students who do not have the intent to stay permanently at their dorm addresses cannot register to vote from them.

4,179 citizens registered at a dorm address in Maricopa County alone, according to the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office.

Thorpe said he came up with the idea for his bill as a result of complaints he received from his constituents in Flagstaff.

Residents complained that the vast number of students who voted in local elections diluted their vote and their power to influence the outcome of local elections. Thorpe said he believes that students who only live in places temporarily for college are really not residents of the city and should register to vote using their primary residence.

“It reduces the local citizens’ ability to vote the way they want when an outside influence, just temporarily in their community, is voting,” Thorpe said.