Voting Rights

Latest News:
Election@Bard, Andrew Goodman Foundation, and Bard College President File Voter Suppression Lawsuit Against the Dutchess County Board of Elections
Read the press release Read the Lawsuit

Reclaiming Your Rights, Fighting Disenfranchisement

Voter suppression of college students in Dutchess County was rampant until 1999, when Bard and Vassar students—with the support of both institutions—threatened a lawsuit against the Dutchess County Board of Elections. In response, a committee appointed by the county legislature, consisting of the late Woody Klose, Kristen Jemiolo, and Marcus Molinaro (the current county executive), explored the issue and reaffirmed the right of college students to vote where they live and study, a right already upheld by the Supreme Court in 1979.

The committee recommended that the County Board of Elections “encourage the franchise among students.” After the removal of Republican Election Commissioner William Paroli Sr. on unrelated corruption charges, students were permitted to register to vote. However, in the dozen years since, students have still faced periodic problems, including frivolous challenges at the polls and shifting requirements for providing proof of residence. Bard has consistently advocated for student voting rights and attempted to ensure that students are properly registered. It has also supported litigation (as recently as 2009) to see that student votes are counted.

Your rights are once again under fire. Election Commissioner Erik Haight has rejected the proposal to locate the District 5 polling site on the Bard College campus, which would make it safer for students, disabled voters, and those without cars. Tell Haight that polls should be where people are: contact him by calling (845)-486-2473, or emailing ehaight@dutchessny.gov.

Current: The Fight for a
Polling Site on Bard Campus

2012: Class Action Lawsuit, Students vs. Dutchess County BOE

During the 2012 election season, voter registration forms were rejected from Bard, Culinary Institute of America, Marist and Vassar students. With the help of the NYCLU, a class-action lawsuit was filed against the Dutchess County Board of Elections. The affected students successfully challenged a decision by Dutchess County Republican Elections Commissioner Erik Haight to reject their applications because they didn’t list their dormitory name.

November 3, 2009: Student Intimidation

In 2009, voter intimidation and a poorly written legal decision by Judge Brands in Poughkeepsie led to students being needlessly challenged at the ballot box. Many of those challenged students were required to vote via affidavit ballot, even if living at the exact same address where they were registered. This was an effective tool, as affidavit ballots are frequently disqualified over technicalities during the counting process.

Bard Students Unhappy with Voting Hassle
- -Watch the video here
Voter Suppression, Dutchess Style
New York Supreme Court Ruling in Favor of Student Petitioners

1999–2000: Students Denied Right to Vote Locally

In 1999, Bard and Vassar students joined together to challenge Republican Election Commissioner William Paroli Sr.’s illegal impediments to student voter registration. In 2000, a bipartisan county legislative committee looked into the matter and concluded unanimously that not only do students have the right to vote locally, but “The Dutchess County Board of Elections should encourage the use of voting franchise among students.” Even so, it took Paroli’s conviction on an unrelated felony to produce change and allow students the right to vote where they live, work and study.

More About the Fight for a Polling Place

Spring 2020 Update
The fight to relocate Bard's polling place to campus has been revitalized as of Spring 2020. Election@Bard and the Andrew Goodman Foundation, now represented by Venable LLP, a New York City-based law firm, recently submitted a letter to the Dutchess County Board of Elections demanding the relocation of Bard's polling place to campus. The group is open to exploring possible litigation should the request not be complied with.

Read the letter

The Andrew Goodman Foundation
The Andrew Goodman Foundation was created in 1966 by Robert and Carolyn Goodman to carry on the spirit and the purpose of their son Andrew’s life. Today, our work harnesses the legacy of courageous civic action to grow new leaders of change: young adults bitten by the spirit of activism (like Andy). Our campus coalitions spread a culture of participatory democracy, promoting the right to vote while incubating a new civic-minded generation.

Visit the Andrew Goodman Foundation

Advocacy Polling

Our voting district’s population center is here at home, at Bard. Why must we travel 3 miles to vote?

This concern follows a history of voting accessibility issues for college-age voters in Dutchess County. In 1979, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Symm vs. The United States that denying college students the presumption of bona fide residency was unconstitutional. Decades after that decision, college students in Dutchess County faced undue and unjustified barriers to voting. The egregious disenfranchisement tactics occurred consistently until 2004. During that time, young registered voters in Dutchess County were systematically barred from voting through the use of a “supplemental” questionnaire. The Board of Elections required this supplemental form exclusively from voters residing at college residences. The practice ended in 2004, after students and administrators from Bard, Vassar, and Marist, civil rights organizations, and a bipartisan group of local elected officials united to put an end to this unjust practice. Since then, conditions have improved, but litigation was required in 2009 and 2012 to ensure the equal treatment and enfranchisement of college-age voters.

In addition to the unnecessary distance, the polling site is located on an unlit and high-speed county road that has no pedestrian sidewalks. The present polling site is irrefutably inaccessible by foot. A polling site on Bard’s campus would be immediately accessible by foot to 68 percent of all voters in this voting district.

Furthermore, the current polling site is inaccessible by mass transit. However, a polling site at Bard College would be accessible by LOOP bus. It is important to note that, in 2010, NYS Election Law was amended to give preference to sites accessible by mass transit; “each polling place designated, whenever practicable, shall be situated directly on a public transportation route” (NY Elec L § 4-104 [6] [a]).