Letter to the Editor: "All Luther students should participate in the May 1st referendum"

(decorahnews.com is reposting the Luther Chips opinion piece by student Forrest Stewart, with his permission):

"On May 1st, the citizens of Decorah will vote on whether to authorize city council to establish a municipal electric utility (MEU). Our current electricity distributor is an investor-owned utility, Alliant Energy, which strongly opposes municipalization. If the vote passes, the city council will be authorized (though not required) to apply to the Iowa Utility Board (IUB, the state's regulatory body for utilities) to buy the town's electricity distribution infrastructure and form a municipal electric utility which would take over the services currently supplied by Alliant. The IUB will then consider the issue and decide what is in the best interest of the citizens. I encourage all students to become acquainted with this issue and decide for themselves what is best for Decorah. However, this letter has a separate, yet related, focus.

There are some members of the Decorah community who oppose Luther students' right to participate in this election. First and foremost, I consider suggestions that voting rights be revoked for a certain sect of a community to be inherently anti-democratic and am disappointed that such rhetoric is being espoused in Decorah—a place I consider to be so forward thinking and inclusive. While there need not be any response to these suggestions other than "all citizens of a town have the right to vote on local issues guaranteed to them by law," I seek to address the specific reasoning that has been put forth since I have heard Luther students themselves echoing these sentiments as reasons why they think they should refrain from voting on the MEU issue.

I have heard some say that because students are not permanent residents of Decorah they should not have a say on issues that will impact the community after they graduate. However, this argument ignores the fact that while individual students may eventually leave Decorah, Luther's student body is a permanent fixture in the Decorah community with considerable interest in the well-being of the town. While many current Luther students will not live in Decorah in another four years, there are thousands of future Luther students who will be impacted by this vote. When we cast votes on local issues we are not only representing ourselves but also the entire student body of Luther—both present and future. I urge all Luther students to vote on May 1st in a way that they believe will strengthen both Luther and Decorah for the future. 

This argument that temporary residents shouldn't vote also falls flat when one imagines the other groups of people who would be excluded under this logic. Elderly folks, people with terminal illnesses, and anyone who plans on moving elsewhere in the near future would also be excluded if we were to be consistent with this logic. Consider the ridiculousness of a suggestion that nursing home occupants should be barred from voting because of the possibility that they won't be around to feel the direct impacts of the election.

Finally, many Luther students choose to remain in Decorah for work after graduation and many others return years later to raise their family. Today over 1,000 Decorah residents are Luther alumni.

Another complaint I have heard about Luther students voting relates to the perception that we don't pay electricity bills and thus aren't stakeholders in the issue at hand. While it is true that we don't receive individual monthly bills from Alliant, students absolutely pay for electricity. Luther pays Alliant over $1 million each year for electricity and as a student at Luther, $500 of your tuition each year is for electricity. Don't let anyone tell you that you are not paying for electricity—you are.

College students are already severely underrepresented in American political discourse—less than half voted in the 2016 election. Do not fall for anti-democratic rhetoric that seeks to further diminish our political voice. Vote on the MEU issue! You can vote on May 1st or on April weekdays at the courthouse. There will be transportation to the polls offered for all students on April 27th. Remember, you must be registered in your current residence hall. Voter registration forms can be found online or at tables outside the cafeteria this week and next week."