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Jim Zeigler: As college starts back, students should make a plan to cast their first vote

It’s August. School will be starting back this month at all levels.

An 18 to 22 year-old may be about to head off to college, vocational school, the military or a job. They can start arrangements now to cast their vote on November 5.

Many up to age 22 have never registered and never voted. November 5, 2024 will be their first presidential election and may be their first opportunity to have a say in our state and nation.

Regardless of whether an 18 to 22 year-old is staying home or going off, he or she needs to think a minute and make some arrangements about voting. To keep from repeating “18 to 22 year-olds,” I will call them “yutes.” It’s a term of endearment from the movie, “My Cousin Vinny”.

Yutes who are going away have an initial decision to make. Should they plan on voting in that distant location or voting back home?  Legal residency is a function of intent. If they certify that they intend to make that new location their legal residence, they can do so and can register and vote there.

If they intend to come back home as their permanent residence, they should register and vote back home.

Example: A University of Alabama student is from Mobile. If he intends to remain in Tuscaloosa, he can register to vote in Tuscaloosa. Otherwise, he should register in Mobile County.

The quickest and easiest way for a yute (or anyone) to register to vote is the online site of Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen – a five-minute task – handled through the official and secure destination for voting and election information, Alabama Votes.

If the yute registers in that distant site (in this case, Tuscaloosa), he can go in person and vote there on Tuesday, Nov. 5.

If the yute registers back home (in this case, Mobile), there is a bit more involved.  Since he would be away on November 5, he must later apply for an absentee ballot, receive it, complete it and mail it in. Each of these steps must be done before strict deadlines.

Official information on how and when to vote absentee is available here through the Alabama Secretary of State website.

Since I, together with a group of other then-yutes, helped get the 18-year-old vote passed, there has not been much participation by the new, young voters. That could change this year, as Alabama voters are in a strategic position of impacting, and maybe even deciding, control of the U.S. House.

Two congressional districts in Alabama are vital and could be decisive in control of the House. District two was re-drawn by the federal courts to favor the Democrats. AL-2 is a swing district, a purple district.

Democrats have targeted AL-2 for outside millions and professional organizers. Conservative activists are countering that with a citizens’ voter registration project, Save Our U.S. House.

The 13 counties in AL-2 are: Mobile, Washington, southern Clarke, Monroe, Conecuh, Butler, Crenshaw, Pike, Montgomery, Bullock, Macon, Russell, and Barbour.

Alabama’s congressional district seven is Democrat, represented by Rep. Terry Sewell (D-Birmingham). That district has been impossible for a Republican to win – until now. The federal courts had wanted to create a Democrat district in AL-2. To do so, they moved thousands of Democrat voters out of AL-7 into AL2. AL-7 is now less Democrat than it has ever been.

The best chance for a Republican to win AL-7 is now, this election cycle, November 5, 2024.

The Republican nominee against Democrat Rep. Sewell is Dr. Robin Litaker of Birmingham. An Alabama “State Teacher of the Year,” Litaker is a member of the Trump Team. An upset win by Litaker would flip a blue district to red and just about guarantee GOP control of the House. Alabama can make a difference.

The counties in AL-7 are: Choctaw, Dallas, Greene, Hale, Lowndes, Marengo, Pickens, Perry, Sumter and Wilcox counties, and portions of Clarke, Jefferson, and Tuscaloosa counties.

With an extremely close race in AL-2 and the first-time competitive race in AL-7, coupled with the tight margin of control of the U.S. House, the yute vote may be more important than ever.

“We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.” –Franklin D. Roosevelt

Jim Zeigler is a voter registration consultant for Save Our U.S. House. He served as Alabama Public Service Commissioner and State Auditor.

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