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Basically, a student living away from home as two choices:
- The student retains his/her home as their permanent residence and votes at the polling place of their home either in person or by absentee ballot. You cast your vote federal and state office and also for local offices that apply to your home community, such as school board, county supervisor, mayor or town chairman, alderman.
- The student establishes their school residence as their permanent residence and votes at the polling place in their school’s community. You will vote for the federal and state offices as you would at home, but they may be for different districts or even a different state. The local offices you vote for will be the offices that apply to your school’s community.
For you, it may just that simple, but of course, its may not. It is up to you to make that determination. The purpose of this article is to help you in doing so.
[The remainder of this article is copied from “Guide to Student Residency” published by the Wisconsin Election Commission. It is adapted only to relate it to other pages of this website. The original is available online at this link.]
Under Wisconsin Statutes, an individual must reside in an election ward for at least 28 consecutive days before the election and have no present intent to move. A person does not lose residency for voting purposes by leaving an established residence for temporary purposes with the intent to return to the residence.
The 28 consecutive day requirement does not mean that a voter must sleep at or remain at that location for 28 consecutive days before being eligible to vote there. For instance, a voter may move to a location on a weekend 30 days before an election with the intent to make it their voting residence, spend time travelling or at the previous residence on a temporary basis for part or all of the next 28 days, and still vote from the new location. In that case the voter has established a physical presence at the new ward with the required intent to claim residency and the voter can vote from this address even if they are gone for temporary purposes. An example is a student who is only home at their parent’s residence on weekends continues to accrue days for the 28‐day requirement throughout an entire month even though the individual may not be physically present at the home more than 2 consecutive days.
It is not necessary that there be an intention to remain permanently at the voting residence. It is sufficient that the place is for the time being the home of the voter to the exclusion of other places. Once established, a person’s residency is presumed to continue until a new one is established. A voter’s statements and actions alone can establish intent.
If you are registering to vote, you will need to provide documentation proving your residency. There are 4 ways to register to vote: by mail- postmarked no later than the 3rd Wednesday before the election, online at www.myvote.wi.gov no later than the 3rd Wednesday before the election, in your municipal clerk’s office, or at the polls on Election Day. A list of acceptable proof of registration documents can be found at: http://elections.wi.gov/Register Documents like a lease or housing agreement, a phone bill, a bank or credit card statement, or a paystub can be used. You can show a paper copy of your document, or you can show it electronically on your phone or computer.
Student status is not a consideration in determining residence for the purpose of establishing voter residency. Also, the proof of residence document is not used to confirm that the 28 day residency requirement is met. The voter’s sworn statement on the registration application should be taken at face value unless an inspector or challenger has direct evidence to the contrary. Wisconsin law places the burden on the person who challenges the voter’s residency to provide evidence of their challenge. If there is a challenge to your registration or your eligibility to vote, the Chief Election Inspector at your polling place will conduct the challenge process. If you believe your right to vote is being incorrectly challenged you should first talk to the Chief Election Inspector. If you need further assistance, contact your municipal clerk’s office and if necessary, the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC).
Where May I Vote?
A student who has registered to vote at a campus address and continues to live there must vote from that location. A student who has registered to vote at a home address and lives on campus may vote from the home address or may register and vote from the campus address.
Once a student has established residency at a campus address, the student may vote using the student’s campus address until the student establishes a new voting residence. This is the case even if the student is temporarily away from campus and does not know their campus address for the following school year. If the student has previously registered to vote at a campus address, the student may not register to vote at a home or different address until re‐establishing residency for 28 consecutive days prior to the election. Alternatively, a student may register to vote from a home address if the student has not yet registered to vote from a campus address. In that case the student’s home address is considered the permanent address for voting purposes and the student is only temporarily away from that address during the school year.
An individual who is registered to vote at a Wisconsin campus or home address, leaves that address permanently, and moves to another Wisconsin residence may continue to vote using the prior address until establishing residency for 28 consecutive days at the new location. An individual who leaves their Wisconsin campus or home address and moves to an out‐of‐State residence, and who has no intent to return to the ward in which the prior address is located, may not vote in an election from the prior address.
The Wisconsin Statutes recognize that students may continue to use their parents’ residence as a voting residence unless they terminate that option by registration or some similar act. When a student has moved from one campus address and established residency at another campus address so that they can no longer vote at the first address, they regain the option to vote at their parents’ address. For an individual who is no longer lawfully registered at one campus address, their decision to establish a voting residence separate from their parents’ residence, has essentially expired. For example, a student may have voted in 2018, moved several times since then, and has not registered to vote at a new campus location since 2018. In that case the student may vote from their home address or register to vote at the new campus address.
A student may re‐establish residency at the home address during summer break, another school break, or even a weekend, if the student has the required intent to establish that residency as their voting address. If the student intends to make the home address their residency for voting purposes, and begins to establish or re‐establish a physical presence there at least 28 days before the election, the student is permitted to vote at the home address.
If the student intends to make the campus address their residency for voting purposes, and begins to establish or re‐establish a physical presence there at least 28 days before the election, the student is permitted to vote at the campus address. For example, a student voted at home at the spring election. During the summer, the student stays at the campus address and re‐establishes residency there with the intent to make it their permanent residence for voting in the fall election. As long as the student has re‐established a physical presence for at least 28 days before the fall election, the student is permitted to vote at their campus address.
A Wisconsin resident who attends school in another state may continue to vote from their Wisconsin residence until registering elsewhere. An out‐of‐state resident attending school in Wisconsin may register to vote at a campus address. An individual may have only one active registration you should first talk to the Chief Election Inspector. If you need further assistance, contact your municipal clerk’s office, your local Democratic Party office and if necessary, the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC).
