Student voters show their IDs after entering the polling site in the Wellness Center. Photo by Jennifer Friese/The Dakota Student.

Students showed up at the Wellness Center on Tuesday to vote, but a recent North Dakota voter ID law made it difficult for many to cast their ballots.

Poll inspector Gerry Nies said there were multiple problems with students not having valid Grand Forks addresses listed on accepted forms of identification. This lead to many students being turned away at the polls.

The voter ID law says voters must show an ID to vote, but it created a problem for students when the addresses on their IDs were their home addresses instead of their Grand Forks residences.

To fix the problem, students were told to go to their Campus Connection accounts and print a student identification certificate, which should list a current local address. While the Wellness Center provided computers for students to do this, it became a problem for many who didn’t a problem for many who didn’t have their addresses updated online.

“If students haven’t updated their ConnectND information, then … (we) have to have a valid Grand Forks address to allow them to vote,” Nies said. “This one wasn’t bad. The next election is the presidential, and you know the turnout is going to be (much) higher.”

President of UND Democrats David Evers felt very strongly about the problems voters faced at the polls.

“We’ve had more than a dozen people turned away in the last hour,” Evers said. “More than half of the students who get to the polls don’t have that certificate.”

He blamed this on specific groups not getting the information out there and on the new voter ID law.

“It’s a level of incompetence with the Secretary of State Office and Student Government not letting the students know the requirements,” Evers said.

As for the voter ID law, he said, “It’s pretty clear that the intent of this law was to make it difficult for certain groups to vote.”

He listed students, elderly people and Native Americans as groups targeted by this law.

“After this election, serious action needs to be taken,” Evers said. “Student Government should take a note for the next election and make sure they’re doing their job to let students know of the requirement.”

Reasons to vote

Between the proposed measures and the candidates running for legislative seats, students seemed more interested in having their voice heard in regards to the measures.

Measure 1, which states that “the inalienable right to life of every human being at any stage of development must be recognized and protected,” was something UND freshman Miranda Phelps cared about in particular.

“It’s so vague, and a lot of people think it’s about abortion, but there’s a lot more to it than that,” Phelps said.

Measure 1 did not pass.

First-time voter Kiana Leer also felt Measure 1 was important, but she said Measure 7 — which would allow large retailers to offer pharmacy services — was the biggest reason she wished to vote.

“I miss my Target pharmacy,” she said.

Measure 7 also did not pass.

Freshman Adam Kemp said he’s not too concerned about electing politicians. It was “mainly the measures” that brought him out. Having come to UND from western North Dakota where the oil boom is occurring, he felt that Measure 5 was important.

Measure 5 would have allocated 5 percent of the state’s oil tax revenue to a clean water, wildlife and parks trust and fund. Kemp said he feels like “a lot of the money’s going to go to the eastern half when the money’s coming from the west.”

Measure 5 did not pass either.

Besides the measures, some students felt the right to vote is a privilege that needs to be exercised.

“This is a right that I hold dearly,” UND senior Cullen Reiser said. “I know it’s something that not everyone in the world has a right to do.”

UND senior Hanna Stevenson felt the same.

“(I voted) to do my part as an American and get the things that I believe in passed,” she said. “Because every vote counts.”

Jamie Hutchinson is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected].