Two College of William and Mary students who were previously told they could not become registered voters in Williamsburg were granted registration rights last week.
The students, Serene Alami and Seth Saunders, had planned to run for open Williamsburg City Council seats last spring, but their plans were derailed after their applications for Williamsburg registration were denied.
The Williamsburg registrar's office required that the students complete a questionnaire determining permanent residency and decided that the students did not meet the conditions.
The students, backed by the Virginia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, pursued legal action after they were refused registration.
Saunders attributed the registration commotion to "a lot of small-town politics."
"I had started living at a permanent address in January and they said it was questionable for some reason," said Saunders. "It all comes down to the fact that they didn't want me running for city council and basically that's the only way they could block it. I work in the city, buy my groceries here, do everything a normal citizen does."
Saunders said that he thought tax dependency rather than permanent residency determined the registration denial.
"They said since my dad claims me on his tax return I needed to register [in Hanover County], but I haven't lived there in three years," Saunders said.
The registrar's office announced Thursday that the students had met residency requirements. The students refiled their applications with local addresses and vehicle registration that the registrar's office said proved permanent residency.
The ACLU issued a press release Thursday applauding the registration of the two students and subsequent dismissal of the case.
"The students got what they wanted -- the right to cast their vote in the place where they live and make their home," said Virginia ACLU Executive Director Kent Willis in the press release. "But we are still a long way from eliminating the many obstacles to voter registration faced by college students in Virginia."
Although all voter registration in Virginia is subject to Virginia law, Williamsburg General Registrar David Andrews said the interpretation and application of these laws can be different in each registrar's office.
In Williamsburg, if the applicant does not appear to satisfy the permanent residency requirement, they are asked to complete a residency questionnaire, which according to Saunders asked the students about 25 questions on topics such as permanent addresses, previous voter registrations, tax dependency status and property ownership.
"It's a very gray area," said Andrews. "It's up to the registrar as to whether the requirements follow state code."
Charlottesville Deputy Registrar Lori Krizek said Charlottesville applicants are not required to complete any such document.
"We follow state laws, yet we don't require any sort of questionnaire," Krizek said. "However, that might be required by their [Williamsburg] locality."
The ACLU encourages students to register in the community in which they are most involved, according to the release.
"Our plaintiffs are typical of many college students," Virginia ACLU Legal Director Rebecca Glenberg said in the release. "They leave home for school and become politically involved in their new communities. But when they try to vote there, they are told to register at their parents' address -- in a community where they do not live, where they have no intention of living in the future, and where they have no interest in local affairs."
Some William & Mary students, including Alami, are now part of a nation-wide registration movement, the "Student Voting Rights Campaign."
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