College students are already in an unprecedented position to influence the outcome of this November's presidential election. The media, the pundits and the candidates themselves have made that quite clear with their coverage and courting of the youth vote. Perhaps this is why a move by Barack Obama's campaign to register Virginia Tech students as voters in Virginia, rather than in their home states, has caused such controversy. In Virginia, a battleground state that is currently evenly split between the Democratic and Republican parties, thousands of notoriously liberal college students voting for Obama could very well prove to be the determining factor.
In an attempt to discourage Virginia Tech students from registering to vote in Virginia, a local election official told the students that their insurance, scholarships and tax benefits could be in jeopardized if they chose to change their registration. These statements proved to lack substantive merit and were likely intended to discourage youth from voting in that key battleground states.
It only makes sense that college students should be able to register to vote in the state they effectively live in for nine months per year. The issues they face at school on a day-to-day basis affect them much more than do the day-to-day issues at home. That being said, students should also be able to continue voting in their home state if they so choose.
For instance, it wouldn't make sense to register to vote in D.C. whether you're a Republican or Democrat because it is so consistently a Democratic area. Your vote would likely have more of an effect on the results back home.
Anyone who plans to vote in his or her home state needs to remember to request an absentee ballot as soon as possible or risk missing his or her state's deadline. In an election this important, missing the vote because applying for an absentee ballot slipped your mind is not a good excuse.
With Nov. 4 less than two months away, you need to do your civic duty and do it soon!
