Voter Education

As a college student, you have a decision to make when determining where you will to go to vote in the 2012 General Election. Our hope is that this article will help you in making that decision and answer any questions you may have with regards to voting in North Dakota.

First and foremost, you need to decide what you consider your “residence” to be. Are you still a resident in your hometown until you get out of college or do you now consider your college town your residence?
If you still consider your hometown to be your place of residence, you will want to vote there. You can do that by either traveling back there to vote on Election Day, or you can request an absentee ballot.

If your hometown is in another state, you will want to go to the Secretary of State’s website for your home state to determine what the requirements are for absentee voting. Some states have deadlines to apply for absentee ballots, so you will want to do this as soon as possible.

If your hometown is within North Dakota and you meet the qualifications for voting in North Dakota (see below), you can go to https://vip.sos.nd.gov/absentee/ to complete an absentee ballot application. You will print and sign the application and mail it to your county of residence.

If you consider your college town your residence (assuming that your college town is in Cass County), you have several voting options.

In North Dakota, a qualified voter is a U.S. citizen who is eighteen or older; a resident of the state; has lived in his or her voting precinct for the 30 days immediately prior to an election; and who has not had his or her voting rights revoked by court action.

If you meet these qualifications, your voting options are as follows:

You can request an absentee ballot by following the link above. Complete the application, print it, sign it and send it to the Cass County Auditor, PO BOX 2806, Fargo, ND 58108-2806 or fax it to 701-241-5728.

You can vote at one of our Early Voting Precincts:
Doublewood Inn, 3333 13th Ave. S., Fargo - Oct. 29 to Nov. 2 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Hilton Garden Inn, 4351 17th Ave. S., Fargo - Oct. 29 to Nov. 2 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Days Inn, 2050 Governor’s Drive, Casselton – Oct. 31 to Nov. 2 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

You can vote on Election Day in the precinct of your residence. To determine where your Election Day polling location is, go to https://vip.sos.nd.gov/WhereToVote.aspx?tab=0.

To vote in person at a polling location or at an Early Voting location, you are required to provide identification (ID) that correlates to the voting address you consider to be your residence. Acceptable forms of identification must verify your street address and date of birth. More than one form of identification may be used to verify your residency and date of birth. Acceptable forms of ID with residential address are:

Valid driver’s license
Valid state identification card
Valid federally issued identification card, such as (1) Passport or (2) Agency identification card
Valid tribal government issued identification card
Valid student identification card
Valid U.S. military identification card
Utility bill dated within 30 days prior to Election Day with your name and residential address
Change of address verification letter from the U.S. Postal Service

If you do not possess an ID showing your residential address while attending college, you should be able to access, through your PeopleSoft account, a letter from ND Secretary of State Al Jaeger that you can download and use as an acceptable ID in addition to another form that proves your date of birth.

If you have any other questions regarding voting in North Dakota or your options, feel free to contact the Cass County Auditor’s Office at 701-241-5600 or email election@casscountynd.gov.

DeAnn Buckhouse is a certified election registration administrator who works as an election coordinator for Cass County.