Republican Arizona State Rep. Bob Thorpe is pushing a new plan aimed at suppressing college students from voting in his state.
The Arizona Republic reports that Thorpe this week proposed new legislation that would "prohibit students from listing college dormitories as addresses when registering to vote," and instead force them to register at the homes where they live when they aren't in school.
Critics of the bill tell the Arizona Republic that Thorpe's bill is wildly self serving, as it would push out voters who overwhelmingly lean Democratic out of a district that he himself carried by fewer than 600 votes in his most recent election.
"It's a way to keep young people from voting because some people don't like the way young people vote," Alex Gulotta, state director for the advocacy group All Voting Is Local, tells the paper.
And Thorpe's bill doesn't just affect college students, either.
"The bill would also prohibit voters from registering using any address where they do not intend to reside 12 months of the year," the publication reports. "That potentially would affect winter visitors to Arizona as well as workers who labor at seasonal jobs in different cities or states."
Arizona is seen as a potential swing state in the 2020 election that could determine both the winner of the White House and which party controls the U.S. Senate.
