This blog was written by legal intern Jayla Smith.

Student voters are increasingly influential, boasting some 40 million eligible voters. Given this figure, students are a key demographic for strengthening youth voter turnout. 

While voters aged 18-29 have historically participated at lower rates than older demographics, the last decade has been a turning point. Fueled by growing awareness of socioeconomic and political concerns, young voters have shown a renewed sense of urgency around civic participation. This surge reached a historic peak during the 2020 presidential election, as an estimated 50% of eligible young voters cast their ballots — one of the highest youth turnout rates in modern US history. Similarly, approximately 47% of eligible youth voters voted in the 2024 election. 

Thus, youth voters are challenging long-standing assumptions about political apathy among young people. However, students face a hidden threat to their right to vote: “Use It or Lose It” voter roll purging laws. 

What Is a “Use It or Lose It” Voting Law? 

Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) outlines voter list maintenance requirements, allowing covered states to remove voter registrations “upon the request of the registrant, and, if State law so provides, for mental incapacity or for criminal conviction…by reason of the person’s death, or a change in the residence of the registrant outside of the jurisdiction." Under the NVRA’s terms, the act of simply not voting, on its own, does not make a registered voter eligible for removal.  

Yet “Use It or Lose It” voting laws allow states to presume that a person has moved or is no longer eligible to vote if they haven’t cast a ballot in recent elections. The process typically begins with a mailed confirmation notice. If the voter doesn’t respond and fails to vote within a set timeframe — typically two or more consecutive federal general elections (about four years) — their voter registration can be canceled without their consent or knowledge. Though often framed by lawmakers as routine “voter roll maintenance,” these laws functionally remove eligible voters from the rolls for nothing more than inactivity and one missed mail notification. 

There is no unified national time frame for when a voter will be deemed inactive and eligible for Use It or Lose It removal. According to the Voting Rights Lab, 21 states currently have such policies in place, including Georgia, Wyoming, and Ohio, which sought to enact sweeping voter roll purges in the last year. 

In addition, there are a number of states where the NVRA does not apply, such as Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming, leaving citizens of these states at heightened risk for faulty purges. For example, Wyoming removed nearly 28% of its voter registrations in 2022, meaning everyone who didn’t vote in that general election had to reregister to vote in 2024. While Wyoming has same day voter registration, this is an additional step that voters must take for no good reason. 

Why Are College Students Particularly Vulnerable? 

Although voter purges are not isolated to college students and young voters, thousands are at risk of being quietly pushed off voter rolls – and most are unaware this is happening. Given the transient nature of student life, many young voters regularly change residency between both their family home address and school address. Coupled with historically low youth voting patterns, this mobility makes students particularly vulnerable to voter purges, creating unnecessary barriers to voter access. 

Vulnerabilities for college youth include: 

• Frequent Relocations: Many students, particularly those enrolled in out-of-state programs, often split time between their college town and their family’s home address, leading to confusion over their official voting address and increasing the likelihood of outdated voter records.
• Irregular Voting Patterns: Students and youth voters often vote in high-profile elections, such as presidential races, but may skip lower turnout midterm elections. Given the gap between such races, this pattern could mark them as “inactive” and eligible for removal from voter rolls under Use It or Lose It laws.
• Missed notifications: Voter confirmation notices sent by post can be easily overlooked or lost in the mail, especially given the mobile nature of students who relocate frequently or experience unstable housing situations. 

Because of these factors, Use It or Lose It laws threaten the participation of a growing and increasingly influential voting bloc. Thousands of eligible college students risk removal from quiet purging, not because they are ineligible or permanently inactive, but because of the realities of student life and limited awareness of the process.  

How the League is Fighting Anti-Voter Purges 

Legal challengers have increasingly questioned Use It or Lose It purges as violations of federal laws like the NVRA, which mandates reasonable safeguards to protect eligible voters from wrongful removal. The League of Women Voters is dedicated to safeguarding young voters’ rights through legal advocacy, voter education, and policy reform. 

The following examples illustrate how states’ Use It or Lose It laws have been implemented and challenged, highlighting the League’s efforts to defend voters against unlawful purges that disproportionately affect mobile and student populations: 

• Georgia: Georgia is no stranger to fights over voter purges. In July 2017, the state conducted a similar purge, wiping away voter registration for more than half a million voters. According to APM Reports, 107,000 of voters affected in the 2017 purge were removed for failure to vote rather than for any of the requirements triggering such removal under the NVRA. Two individual voters also filed a lawsuit seeking to force Georgia to purge allegedly ineligible voters ahead of the 2024 election. In response, LWV of Georgia moved to intervene in the case to defend voters from being wrongfully purged.   
   
• Wisconsin: In 2019, three voters from Wisconsin counties filed a lawsuit seeking to force the Wisconsin Elections Commission to immediately purge 234,000 registered voters 30 days after they sent an address confirmation notice to them. These notices were based on potentially unreliable data suggesting the voters had moved. LWV of Wisconson attempted to intervene in the Ozaukee County Circuit Court as a defendant, aiming to stop the unlawful voter purge. After being denied, LWV of Wisconsin then filed a federal lawsuit to stop the purge. They argued that the rushed, unrealistic 30-day voter roll purges were a violation of due process. 

What Students (and You) Can Do to Protect Their Vote  

As litigation surrounding Use It or Lose It voting laws gains momentum, student voters — and American voters more broadly — can take proactive measures to protect their vote: 

• Regularly check your voter registration status online. You can use VOTE411.org to check your registration status, understand deadlines in your state, ensure your address is correct, and stay election-ready. We recommend scheduling a regular check-in at a certain time each year, like on Independence Day or your birthday.
• If you receive mail from your local election office, especially about your voter registration status, respond immediately.
• Vote in every election, including local ones. Consistent participation is the simplest way to avoid being targeted by Use it or Lose It purge policies.
• Join your local League to support pro-voter efforts in your state and community. 

The fight to protect the vote is a fight for the future of our democracy. The League of Women Voters is proud to be among those standing at the forefront to challenge unlawful voter removals and empower young people to keep their voices heard at the ballot box. Democracy only works when we all have a say, and the League is committed to ensuring no one is silenced.