Arizona is one of seven highly crucial swing states for November’s presidential election.
Nearly half of the student population at the University of Arizona is from out of state, according to registration data; 49.2% of first-year students are Arizona residents and 46.7% are non-residents.
Students changing their registration to vote in Arizona could sway the outcome in Arizona and in turn, the entire election. Students can change their voter registration to Arizona with or without obtaining an Arizona state drivers license. Interested parties can visit the Pima County Recorder’s office for details.
Kyle Nitschke, executive director of the Students Association of Arizona Voters, said House Bill 2492, passed in 2022, makes it more complicated for Arizona voters to prove citizenship without the Arizona drivers license, but it is still possible.
“Generally, the proof of citizenship is a picture of your birth certificate or a picture of your passport, and the proof of residency is something with your Arizona address on it, so a utility bill or a bank statement,” Nitschke said. “One of the circular things you can do is register to vote as a federal only voter. You’re gonna get your voter ID card in the mail, and then that voter ID card can be used as proof of residency, because it is official election mail.”
The Students Association of Arizona Voters has registered 1,500 Arizona voters and Nitschke said nearly half of them were originally from out of state. The Students Association of Arizona Voters is made up of students from UA, ASU and NAU.
“We really highly encourage our students who are from California, Utah, New Mexico to register to vote here in Tucson, where they’re going to school because they’ll be living here for the next four years,” Nitschke said. “They’ll be here during all of our major elections. And quite frankly, based on where they live, your vote matters a lot more here in Tucson.”
Arizona’s position as a battleground state shows its evolving demographics, with immigration dominating the political conversation near the border. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have prioritized campaigning in Arizona knowing the stakes for this fall.
Arizona’s shift from a reliably red state to a potential swing state in recent elections is significant. After nearly five decades of favoring Republican presidential candidates—with only one Democratic exception in 1996—the state broke that pattern in 2020 when it elected Democrat Joe Biden.
This transformation marks Arizona as a key battleground in the current political landscape, making its role in upcoming elections crucial and unpredictable.
In such a tumultuous area and time, University of Arizona students who are from out of state are re-registering to vote in Arizona. If their home state is almost certain to go blue or red, young voters want their voices to make a difference in this year’s election.
Nationally, there are nearly 40 million Gen Z voters eligible to cast what for some might be their first ballots in November’s election according to Fox 10 Phoenix.
Chicagoan Bea Belo, 19, is one of these ambitious first-time Gen Z voters. Belo, a sophomore at the UA studying sustainable built environments, is planning to register in Arizona.
“I always knew this was something that I was gonna do, not only because Arizona’s a swing state, but because I was just going to be here for school anyway so it’s easier,” Belo said.
“My parents were only able to vote for the first time when we became citizens a few years back,” said Belo, who holds dual citizenship with her native Portugal. “So when they started voting, they explained how important it was, and how and why we should all vote when we can.”
Belo said the majority of her friends at the U A are from out of state and plan to change their voter registration to Arizona or register for the first time in Arizona.
It’s important to note that changing your registration by obtaining an Arizona drivers license changes your federal state of residency, which can affect things such as university finances.
Regan Sherff, a senior studying criminal justice at the UA registered to vote in Arizona for the first time this year. Sherff is from California but recently got her Arizona drivers license, which makes her eligible to vote here come November.
“I got the driver’s license so I could get in-state tuition with the U of A,” Sherff said. “But I would think that my vote matters more in the state of Arizona than it does in California.”
Sherff said she feels concerned about the future election results.
“I don’t think either of them are great,” Sherff said. “ But I do think it is really important for our generation to vote, because we are the people that are going to be adults, and we are the ones that are going to have to suffer the consequences if something bad happens. We are going to be the ones that have to rebuild and reform.”
According to the office of the Pima County recorder, 60,990 voters registered in the City of Tucson were born on or after Jan. 1, 1997 (Gen Z).
To change the status of voter registration, each state has its own intricacies which can be found at usa.gov.
To register to vote for the first time in Arizona the link can be found at vote.gov.
Arizona Sonoran News is a news service of the University of Arizona School of Journalism.
