The six plaintiffs, referred to in court documents as “the Duke Plaintiffs,” are students attending various colleges in North Carolina. In November 2013 they filed a motion asking to join the League of Women Voters of North Carolina, The NAACP, the U.S. Department of Justice and other plaintiffs in their bid to overturn the law.
The Duke Plaintiffs claim the end of one-stop voting, same-day registration, pre-registration of 16-and-17-year-olds and other provisions of VIVA violate their right to equal protection under the 14th amendment. They also claim the law suppresses the youth vote in violation of the 26th amendment.
“It’s like being 18 years old isn’t enough anymore”
On Tuesday afternoon Nadia Cohen took the stand. Cohen was a high school student when the pre-registration program was repealed in 2013. Her brother had pre-registered using the program in 2012.
“It got [the students] excited about voting,” she said. Cohen had intended to pre-register herself and was angry when she discovered the program had been repealed.
“It was like it was there one year and gone the next,” she said.
Cohen was unable to vote in the 2014 election because she missed the 25-day pre-election deadline.
“I didn’t know there was a deadline,” she said. As a student, she said she depended on her parents or her school for registration information, “and they either didn’t know or didn’t tell me.”
“It’s like being 18 years old isn’t enough anymore,” she said.
Removing a Barrier
Professor D. Sunshine Hillygus testified as an expert witness. Professor Hillygus teaches at Duke University and is co-author of The Persuadable Voter: Wedge Issues in Political Campaigns.
In 2013 she began researching youth pre-registration programs in states across the country. States adopting pre-registration could see an increase of up to 13% in young voter turnout, she said.
Hillygus said letting high schools participate in pre-registration programs was particularly effective.
“The costs of registration aren’t equal for everyone,” she said.
In his cross-examination, Defense attorney Alexander Peters pointed out that pre-registered high school students who went away to college would still have to re-register if they planned to vote while at school.
Even without pre-registration programs, 17-year-olds who would be 18 at the time of an election could still register, he said.
Young voters could also be motivated by other influences, such as social media and peer pressure, Peters suggested.
“Social media does increase youth turnout,” Professor Hillygus said.
