Last week, Virginia's Montgomery County, home to Virginia Tech, issued a press release regarding proper protocol for college students registering to vote. In interviews with Inside Higher Ed Tuesday, it was described by turns as "unsubstantiated," "chilling," and (more generously) as not "incredibly encouraging or friendly."It reads, in part: "The Code of Virginia states that a student must declare a legal residence in order to register. A legal residence can be either a student's permanent address from home or their current college residence. By making Montgomery County your permanent residence, you have declared your independence from your parents and can no longer be claimed as a dependent on their income tax filings - check with your tax professional. If you have a scholarship attached to your former residence, you could lose this funding. And, if you change your registration to Montgomery County, Virginia Code requires you to change your driver's license and car registration to your present address within 30 days."
As you'll read in the linked article, these warning are "farfetched and misleading, or, at best, overstated and not typically supported in reality." And there are similar warnings on the state site (something you'd think Gov. Kaine would fix?) However, there's some faulty information here: for example, there's an exemption in the IRS tax code for student dependents living away from home, and insurance companies typically don't care where a student registers to vote.
This is probably some overzealousness by the country, but I hope that Virginia Tech and other students get the right info and register where they want to vote.
My husband is active duty and has been working overtime to encourage everyone to register to vote, and to make sure they get their absentee ballots in time for the election.
Voting is a right that too many lives have been lost fighting for. VT should be ashamed of themselves.
Kudos to the Young Dems for highlighting this issue.
Hope that Gov Kaine steps in and addresses it ASAP.