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Student absentee voting needs review The Issue: The invalidation of nearly 50 percent of absentee ballots in the recent midterm election needs review. Our View: A substitute for public notary is needed in order that student resident tuition f
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Posted on Nov 17 1999
The recent midterm election has seen the nullification of nearly 50 percent of absentee ballots returned by more than 400 NMI students abroad. At face value, it’s easy to indict college students of failing to follow instructions. Such isn’t the case at all.
We’ve talked to parents of some of these students who related that with the lack of scholarship funds, students aren’t about to spend their $10 to get their ballots notarized. Nor are they willing to compromise loss of resident tuition fees for the sake of exercising the right to vote.
The latter view is indeed far more serious than meets the eye. No student in his or her right mind would dare sacrifice losing resident tuition fees to the tune of $300 to $700 per semester just to vote. In the first place, many may be working extra jobs after class–a personal sacrifice–to make ends meet. Coupled with the lack of scholarship funds, every penny they could scrounge and save goes a long way in paying for basic needs, daily.
We recommend that the legislature reviews this aspect of voting so that a decent substitute is had that doesn’t compromise our students’ livelihood in their dedicated efforts to acquire lifetime skills. Perhaps a numbering system specifically assigned to each student may accomplish the goal of absentee voting. The issue that definitely warrants caution is the loss of resident tuition fees which are far more inexpensive than the regular out-of-state tuition fees charged foreign students.
We’re advocating pampering our scholars abroad. But we must be cognizant of the fact that we don’t funds for scholarship purposes, therefore, the logic of not forcing students to languish in bankruptcy. Finally, the resident tuition fees (for NMI students who’ve met the two year residency requirement) is a substantial savings for both students and the local taxpayers.
Let’s do it for our scholars. The NMI needs a cadre of educated people who will eventually take over the helm of guiding the development and fate of our people in the next millennium. Si Yuus Maase`!
