Judge approves settlement over rejected Virginia student voter registrations

A federal judge has approved a consent decree requiring Virginia election officials to accept certain voter registration applications submitted by college students, resolving a lawsuit that alleged students were being improperly denied registration over missing dormitory-related details. The agreement, approved last week by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, bars election […]

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Stickers in Arlington County in June 2025. (Photo by Nathaniel Cline/Virginia Mercury)

A federal judge has approved a consent decree requiring Virginia election officials to accept certain voter registration applications submitted by college students, resolving a lawsuit that alleged students were being improperly denied registration over missing dormitory-related details.

The agreement, approved last week by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, bars election officials from rejecting otherwise eligible student voter registration applications solely because they omit information such as dorm room numbers, dorm names or campus mailbox numbers when those details are not necessary to determine voting precincts.

The lawsuit was filed in October by the NAACP Virginia State Conference and the Advancement Project against Virginia election officials shortly before the November 2025 general election.

The civil rights groups alleged that election officials in multiple Virginia jurisdictions had rejected or delayed voter registration applications submitted by college students living on campus because the forms lacked dormitory-specific information not required under Virginia law.

The plaintiffs argued the practice disproportionately affected students attending historically Black colleges and universities, including Norfolk State University and Virginia State University, along with students at schools including George Mason University, James Madison University, Old Dominion University, University of Richmond and Virginia Commonwealth University.

What the settlement requires

The lawsuit — titled NAACP Virginia State Conference v. John O’Bannon et al. — alleged that rejecting applications over missing dormitory details violated the Materiality Provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as well as the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.

A spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Elections did not immediately comment on the settlement Monday.

Under the consent decree, Virginia election officials must provide guidance and training to local registrars on how to handle student voter registration applications and amend the state voter registration form to clarify what address information is required for people living in dormitories and other group housing.

The agreement also requires state officials to begin rulemaking efforts to formally incorporate the new standards in the Virginia Administrative Code.

John Powers, legal director for the Advancement Project, said the agreement removes barriers that had prevented some students from successfully registering to vote.

“This consent decree is a major win for Virginia voters,” Powers said in a statement.

“For too long, too many Virginia college students have been disenfranchised due to unnecessary and burdensome restrictions. This agreement removes those barriers and mandates important reforms that will allow more students to register successfully and cast ballots that count.”

Anthony Ashton, senior associate general counsel for the NAACP, said the agreement makes clear that eligible voters cannot be denied registration over technical omissions unrelated to eligibility.

“College students in Virginia — particularly those at historically Black colleges and universities — have faced unnecessary and unlawful barriers to voter registration,” Ashton said. “This consent decree sends a strong message that those practices will not stand.”

Case reflects broader fights over student voter access

The lawsuit was filed amid broader national debates over student voting access and efforts by voting-rights organizations to challenge policies they say place additional hurdles on younger voters.

An analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice found that college students have long encountered voting obstacles involving residence verification and campus mailing addresses.

In Indiana, a federal judge last year declined to dismiss a challenge to a law restricting student voter identification, ruling that students had plausibly alleged violations of the First, Fourteenth and Twenty-Sixth Amendments.

Virginia voting rights advocates had also previously raised concerns that some local registrars were rejecting voter registration applications submitted by students listing university housing addresses without additional proof of residence.

Supporters of last year’s lawsuit argued that the timing was particularly significant because the complaint was filed shortly before Virginia’s November 2025 statewide elections, which included races for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and all 100 seats in the House of Delegates.

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