Should University Voters Register In College Town Or Hometown? Debate Takes Shape In SOS Race

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 10/06/2026) Republican Secretary of State nominee Anthony Forlini says college students should vote in their hometowns, but his party’s youth chair encourages them to register near campus when doing so could help Republicans win.

Democratic nominee Garlin Gilchrist II, meanwhile, says students should decide for themselves — choice organizers on both sides sometimes frame it in terms of where their votes could have the greatest impact.

Michigan allows college students to register at their home or campus address. For students with a Michigan driver’s license or state ID, changing their voter registration address also updates their license or ID address of record.

Forlini questioned why students register in communities where they may live only temporarily, during a MIRS Monday podcast in July.

“If there’s a village in that community, why should the students that aren’t going to be there long-term . . . why should they be voting on something they’re not going to pay for? Or get representation that’s not going to represent them?” Forlini said. “They should be voting in their own hometown, back in their own community, and that’s where it should be.”

At a Sept. 23 press conference, the Macomb County Clerk said he heard of parents becoming upset when their child registers to vote in their college town because the change in their driver's license to their voting registration address messes up their insurance premiums.

Gilchrist said college students are a part of the community where they live, work, study and pay rent.

"Whether you choose your hometown or your college community, my job as secretary of state will be to help you understand your options and make the process straightforward," Gilchrist said. "Anthony Forlini should be encouraging young people to participate, not questioning whether they should make their voice heard in Michigan."

In the 2024-25 school year, 228,385 students attended a four-year college or university who were 24 years old or younger.

Michigan Republican Party Youth Chair Krish Mathrani conceded that he sometimes suggests students register where the landscape is most politically competitive.

Students who hail from hometowns with competitive congressional districts, like the Macomb County-based 10th Congressional, would be encouraged to vote from their former address. Michigan State University students, however, would be encouraged to register to vote in East Lansing so they can participate in the competitive U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett (R-Charlotte)-Will Lawrence 7th Congressional District race.

Christian Alvarado, a progressive organizer who works with Eastern Michigan University students through Michigan Student Action Washtenaw, described a similar approach.

"Every single student has a different situation, and sometimes we have them kind of think about strategy. If we have students who are coming from very strong blue areas or blue states . . . coming from New York, coming from California, and they want their vote to matter more, then yeah, register here in Michigan," Alvarado said.

In November 2022, MSU's campus became the site of long lines as 1,434 East Lansing residents registered to vote on the day of the general election and nearly 1,500 U of M students used same-day voter registration in Ann Arbor.

"Obviously, you want your vote to have the biggest impact, and that's going to happen when you vote in a competitive district or wherever your vote has the highest necessity to retain a certain seat or to flip," Mathrani said. "But what I would say is that the secretary of state has made it as complicated and as overly ridiculous as possible for people to vote."

At Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, there is the Central Votes program, dedicated to helping students become registered to vote and to develop civic skills.

Symantha Dattilo – the director of CMU's Mary Ellen Brandell Volunteer Center, which houses Central Votes – said they have found that many students don't realize they're already registered to vote.

"As a result, our work is increasingly about more than simply registering new voters. It's about helping students understand and navigate the voting process," Dattilo said in an email to MIRS. "We show students how to use the secretary of state's online resources to check whether they're registered, where they're registered, find their polling location and local clerk, and understand how to update their information if they choose to do so."

Anecdotally, Dattilo said Central Votes sees both students who choose to vote at home and those voting from their Mount Pleasant address "fairly regularly."

"For some students, particularly those who live in Mount Pleasant throughout most of the year and don't frequently return to their hometowns, registering locally makes sense for both convenience and because they consider Mount Pleasant their home," Dattilo said. "Other students maintain strong ties to their hometown or prefer to keep their permanent address here. Those students may choose to vote absentee or return home to vote."

Central Votes informs students that if they choose to register to vote in Mount Pleasant, they will need to change the address on their driver's license anytime they change dorm rooms or apartments. By changing their driver's license address, their voter details will change automatically with it.

"It really comes down to each student's individual circumstances and where they consider home," Dattilo said.