2024年，弗吉尼亚大学的学生在弗吉尼亚州夏洛茨维尔市帮助符合条件的选民投票。
Students at the University of Virginia help eligible voters to vote in Charlottesville, Va., in 2024.
Ryan M. Kelly/AP 许多在远离家乡的地方求学的学生选民在拿到选票之前就面临着一个关键决定：他们应该在自己上学的地方法投票吗？
Ryan M. Kelly/AP Many student voters studying outside their hometown face a key decision before they even get a ballot: Should they to vote where they go to school?
最高法院1979年的一项裁决肯定了符合条件的大学生在学年期间居住的社区内投票的权利。但在将近半个世纪后，一些人仍然对为什么学生可以在大学所在地投票提出质疑。
Supreme Court ruling in 1979 affirmed the right of eligible students to in the communities where they live during the academic year. But close to a half-century later, some people continue to question why students can vote in their college towns.
这个问题在有关蒙大拿州去年对其居民投票资格要求做出修改的讨论中再次浮出水面。在一个学生倡导团体提起诉讼后，一名州法官目前叫停了这项新限制。这使得蒙大拿州想要投票的学生（包括在截至选举日的中期选举中）仍适用以往的规则。目前，在等待法官最终裁决的同时，一些学生投票领域的专家认为这起诉讼提醒人们，各方对该国最年轻的一些选民的权利普遍存在误解。
That issue resurfaced in discussions about changes Montana made last year to its requirements for residents who want to to vote. After a student advocacy group sued, a state judge blocked the new restriction for now. That leaves the previous rules in place for Montana students who want to to vote, including for the midterm elections through Election Day Now, as the wait continues for the judge's final ruling, some experts on student voting see the case as a reminder of common misunderstandings about the rights of some of the country's youngest voters.
为什么外州大学生就像拥有多套房产的人 美国选举与居住地挂钩，州和地方政府决定谁符合合格居民的资格。
Why out-of-state college students are like owners of multiple homes Voting in the U.S. is tied to residency, and state and local governments determine who qualifies as a resident who can.
马里兰州政府与政治学教授迈克尔·汉默（Michael Hanmer）解释称，为了确保某些选民（如符合条件的大学生）不受歧视，联邦法律为居住要求设定了基本规则。他的研究重点一直是学生选民。“你不能对不同群体的人适用不同的标准，因此大学生需要与这里可能对特定地方陌生、混杂在其中的任何人受到相同的对待，”汉默说道。
To make sure certain voters, such as eligible students, are not discriminated against, federal law sets ground rules for residency requirements, explains Michael Hanmer, a professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland, whose research has focused on student voters "You can't apply different standards to different groups of people, so college students need to be treated the same as anybody else in the mix here who might be new to a particular place," Hanmer says.
所有符合条件的选民都有权在某个地方投票。和拥有多套房产的人一样，许多学生能够选择将其哪一处住所作为登记投票的“那个地方”。在法律界，这被称为他们的“住所（domicile）”。
All eligible voters have a right to cast a ballot somewhere. And like owners of multiple homes, many students are able to choose which of their residences to be that somewhere for registering to vote. In the legal world, it's known as their "domicile."
“它被定义为一个单一的、固定的、永久的、主要的家，一个人打算回到那里，尽管她目前可能并不住在那里，”曾共同主编《青年投票权利：民权、第二十六条修正案以及在大学校园里争取美国民主的斗争》一书的律师亚埃尔·布罗姆伯格（Yael Bromberg）解释说，“对于一个可能不知道自己毕业后会住在哪里的学生来说，对住所的认定具有高度的个人色彩和个性化评估。”
"It's defined as the one singular, fixed, permanent, principal home where one intends to return, although she may not currently reside there," explains Yael Bromberg, an attorney who co-edited the book Youth Voting Rights: Civil Rights, the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, and the Fight for American Democracy on College Campuses "In the case of a student who may not know where she might live after graduation, that determination of domicile is highly personal and an individualized assessment."
蒙大拿州的新法律将如何阻止数千名符合条件的选民投票 在蒙大拿州，年满18岁且已在该州居住至少30天的美国公民通常有资格在该州投票。
How Montana's new law could stop thousands of eligible students from voting In Montana, a U.S. citizen who is 18 or older and has been a state resident for at least 30 days is generally eligible to to vote there.
去年，由共和党控制的蒙大拿州立法机构通过了一项针对“教育项目”中“临时”居民的新限制。根据修改后的州法律，如果他们不打算在项目结束时将该县或该州作为他们的永久住所，他们就只能在一个蒙大拿州县投票。
Last year, Montana's Republican-controlled legislature passed a new restriction for "temporary" residents in an "educational program." Under the revised state law they could only in a Montana county if they intend to make the county or the state their permanent home at the end of their program.
共和党州官员辩称，该限制不适用于蒙大拿州高校的学生。他们在法院文件中声称，这种解释“将使‘临时’一词失去意义，因为没有人会把获得两年、四年或八年学位视为一项临时努力”。到目前为止，米苏拉县法官杰森·马克斯（Jason Marks）并不买账。今年2月，他裁定针对学生选民的限制可能违反了蒙大拿州宪法。
GOP state officials argue that restriction does not apply to students at colleges and universities in Montana. That interpretation, they claim in a court filing "would render the word 'temporary' meaningless, because no one understands obtaining a two, four, or eight-year degree as a temporary endeavor." So far, Missoula County Judge Jason Marks is not buying that argument In February, he found the restriction against student voters likely violates Montana's constitution.
在主持了本月的听证会后，马克斯目前正为由蒙大拿公共利益研究集团（Montana Public Interest Research Group）的学生倡导者发起的诉讼准备最终裁决。MontPIRG称，蒙大拿州居住规则的修改可能会迫使数千名学生失去在投票箱中就如何管理他们的社区发声的能力。
After holding a hearing this month, Marks is now preparing his final ruling for the lawsuit brought by student advocates at the Montana Public Interest Research Group. MontPIRG claims the change to Montana's residency rule could force thousands of students to lose the ability to have a say at the ballot box about how their communities are run.
为什么外州学生选民应注意其他州的要求 在去年的一场公开听证会上，该限制的一些支持者表示，来自蒙大拿州以外的学生选民不应该能够影响该州的选举。但马里兰州的汉默并不认为蒙大拿州的法律能扫清法律障碍。
Why out-of-state student voters should be aware of other state requirements a public hearing last year, some of the restriction's supporters said student voters from outside Montana should not be able to affect the state's elections. But Hanmer at the University of Maryland doesn't see Montana's law clearing legal hurdles.
“如果这种试图限制仅为教育目的而在蒙大拿州的学生投票的企图能够站得住脚，我会感到惊讶，”他说道。
"I would be surprised if this attempt to restrict students from voting if they're in Montana just for educational purposes holds up," he says.
不过，汉默指出，确实有权选择在哪里投票的学生选民应该记住，在某些州，这种选择可能会伴随其他要求。
Still, Hanmer points out student voters who do have the right to choose where to should keep in mind that, in some states, that choice may come with other requirements.
“如果他们想付诸行动并在那个新州投票，那么他们可能不得不参与一些额外的活动，这可能会在时间上付出代价，”汉默说。某些州要求新居民（例如）获取新的州身份证或更改汽车登记。“他们可以强加这些限制，”汉默补充道，“但他们是将其强加给所有新居民，而不仅仅是大学生。” 由本杰明·斯瓦西（Benjamin Swasey）编辑投票报道 2026年中期选举
"If they want to follow through and vote in that new state, then they might have to engage in some additional activities that could be costly in terms of their time," Hanmer says. Certain states require a new resident to, for example, get a new state ID or change their car registration. "They can impose these restrictions," Hanmer adds, "but they impose them on all new residents, not just college students." Edited by Benjamin Swasey voting stories 2026 midterms