The presidential election is 49 days away. Have you registered to vote?
If not, signing up may be just a double-click away, thanks to several Web sites featuring online registration forms.
The Web sites voter.com, rockthevote.com and speakout.com offer information about the upcoming election, registration forms and printable absentee ballots.
In addition to registration forms, voter.com offers election news articles from a variety of magazines and newspapers, video clips from the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, polls and information on campaign-finance legislation.
Another similar site is rockthevote.com, which is specifically aimed at mobilizing the youth vote.
At the site, younger voters can access discussion groups, links to campaign news and links to various organizations and advocacy groups for youth political participation.
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Speakout.com also provides voter registration forms, but as with rockthevote.com, there are some restrictions. Once you complete the online form, you must print it and mail it to your local voter registration office rather than submitting it electronically. Several states do not accept online registrations.
Not everyone is taking advantage of these sites.
Graduate Engineering student Christine Power said she recently changed her voter registration to Charlottesville, but she did not do so online, instead opting for a trip to the DMV.
University students traditionally have relatively high participation in elections, despite low youth turnout nationwide, said Larry J. Sabato, government and foreign affairs professor.
The University has "higher voter participation than many other universities," Sabato said. "Young people under the age of 26 have pitiful voter turnout."
In the 1996 presidential election, only 30 percent of all eligible 18 to 24-year-olds voted on Election Day.
Third-year Commerce student David Young said he has registered to vote and has an absentee ballot, making him one of many University students who are ready to cast their ballots Nov. 7.
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