Have you ever appreciated the ease with which Madison allows its college students to register for elections at the state and federal level? Polling locations on or near campus demand little proof of identity, hardly any hurdles and virtually no drawbacks or caveats to engaging in the electoral process. In Virginia, however, local authorities have complicated this democratic procedure, specifically for the students of the Virginia Tech campus.
In late August, the local county registrar issued two statements to local college students, warning them of the supposed fiscal hurdles of registering to vote in the county of their campus instead of their home address.
The county registrar suggested that such a change could jeopardize a student's health-care coverage, scholarship allocation, vehicle registration and even dependence on their parents' tax returns. However, numerous student registration groups have claimed that virtually no students ever faced these barriers when registering at their college for elections. In 1979, the Supreme Court even specifically ruled that students have the right to register at their collegiate address.
In addition, the county registrar in Blacksburg, Va., has made it incredibly inconvenient to apply for and obtain an absentee ballot, further jeopardizing college students' ability to register and vote from their home address. One Virginia Tech student described the process as difficult and obnoxious. Coupled with the already misleading messages released from the registrar, these students - an already civically lazy demographic - have been discouraged heavily from participating in the democratic process.
The county registrar in Virginia exacerbated the already difficult task of encouraging voter turnout, especially among college students. In Virginia, the county registrar's inaccurate portrayal of the legal matters surrounding registration is particularly despicable, presenting a horrifically exaggerated picture of financial issues associated with registering to vote. The county must completely take responsibility for this misleading information and make the effort to publicly restate what the actual requirements of registration are, especially on campuses where students were misled. Any attempt to complicate a person's right to have a voice in state and federal elections is grossly irresponsible, and the least the county registrar should do is help mitigate the damage caused and work to spark students' desire to participate in November's election.
