The "Luther College students shouldn't vote May 1st" controversy

(Some Decorah community members have been arguing that Luther College students should not be allowed to vote on the municipal electric utility referendum May 1st.  decorahnews.com's Paul Scott has reviewed the voter registration information from previous elections to provide some facts about voting by Luther students):

"With declining enrollments in recent years at Luther College, the number of students living off campus has been dramatically reduced.  That means if Luther College students vote on May 1st, it will be because they have registered to vote in either Ward 4 or Ward 5 in the City of Decorah.

decorahnews.com has obtained voter registration information for Ward 4 and Ward 5.  The lists combined show 1,943 people are registered voters.  Of that figure, 939 have a Luther College address.

Now 939 registered Luther College voters might sound like a significant figure.  But not all 1,943 registered voters cast ballots.  In fact, just 1,433 voters--both city residents and college students--cast ballots in the 2016 presidential election.  Of that figure, 646 voters had a "700 College Drive" address.

But that was in 2016, during a presidential election.  The turnout during off-year elections and special elections is typically much lower.

To get an appropriate comparison, we looked at last November's city election.  Between Ward 4 and Ward 5, 572 people voted.  33 of them were Luther College students.

Of course, nobody can predict in advance how many Luther students will vote May 1st.  And Luther Chips writer Forrest Stewart has an excellent argument (posted below) for why Luther students deserve to vote--no matter how many of them cast ballots May 1st.

But the statistics from voter registration lists in the Luther College area should lay to rest the overstated claims that 'real residents' of Decorah will vote 'no' May 1st, but will have their will overturned by hordes of Luther College students who have nothing to lose by voting 'yes.'"