Though the most recent local election was only a week ago, the Center for Politics and local officials are already urging students to participate in the 2008 presidential and state elections through a provision that allows University students to register to vote locally rather than in their hometowns.
Promoting student registration
This week, the University's Center for Politics is setting up tables outside Observatory Hill Dining Hall and dormitories to help University students register to vote.
Third-year College student Allison Andresen, the center's student voter registration coordinator, said registration efforts are currently focusing on first-year students as the center helps prepare students to vote in the 2008 elections.
Bruce Vlk, assistant coordinator of programs at the University's Center for Politics, said Center for Politics representatives inform students of their voting options -- how to register, where they can register, and how to obtain and fill out absentee ballots at election times.
"We are doing a first-year blitz," Andresen said. "We are tabling at dorms and at O-Hill and handing out free T-shirts to students that register and we have in-state and out-of-state registrations."
According to Vlk, the voting options available to University students are not universal; though University students can vote in Albemarle County or City of Charlottesville elections, students attending the University of Mary Washington cannot vote in Fredericksburg elections unless Fredericksburg is their hometown.
"The City of Charlottesville allows U.Va. students living in dorms to vote in local elections whereas some college towns do not," Vlk said. "The City of Williamsburg recently allowed William & Mary students to vote in their local elections."
Albemarle County or Charlottesville City?
Should a student decide to register to vote in Charlottesville, he or she is registered in either Albemarle County or the City of Charlottesville, depending on where he or she resides when filling out the forms, according to Albemarle County Registrar Jake Washburne.
"The main thing is, it has to be their residence and that is just a matter under Virginia law, which is subjective in where they consider their main residence to be," Washburne said. "Some students consider themselves to be residents of their dormitories or houses they rent while they are at school."
He added that students are encouraged to call either the city or county registrar to find out where they can vote. Through a computerized voter registration system, Washburne said officials can quickly determine whether a student qualifies as a city or county resident.
Washburne noted that while some students feel more politically connected to Charlottesville, others will choose to register to vote in their hometowns.
Avoiding voter fraud
Though Washburne said confusion about whether a student can vote in city or county elections sometimes exists, he said he has not heard of many cases involving voter fraud, or voting in a locality beyond the allotted time after moving to a new residence.
To avoid voter fraud, he noted students should change their voter registration to reflect any changes in residence during their time at the University.
"The residence address is how we peg you for how you vote, how you identify your voting precinct," Washburne said.
Washburne said there are many complicated rules concerning residency and voting within the Virginia statute, but noted that if a student, for instance, moves from one location in the county to another location in the same county, he or she could continue voting in his or her former voting precinct for two or three years.
Washburne said, however, if a student moves from Albemarle County to the City of Charlottesville, he or she is only permitted to go back to the former precinct for a year.
"We don't have any formal studies of the incidents of voter fraud in Albemarle County, but what I have read of in newspapers and magazines is that it is estimated to be very low," Washburne said, adding that if a person were caught committing voter fraud, the consequences would be severe.
Big Brother not necessarily watching
Earlier this month, more than 61,000 voters were registered in Albemarle County, and Washburne pointed out that election officials cannot "give everyone the third degree."
He said election officials do not necessarily initiate a lengthy inquiry about residency for every voter that comes to the polls.
"Theoretically, the voter could have been moved for quite some time," Washburne said, "But most people are honest and once the officer of election hears that there is a change of address, he is obligated to ask how long it has been since the person has moved away."
If a voter is in the wrong place, election officials help the voter fill out a new registration form according to his or her new location.
Vlk said he has never known the Center for Politics to encounter problems with student registration and voter fraud. Washburne said he suspects most people think it is not worth risking jail time simply to vote in an area in which they are not assigned.
Although there is not a large risk of being caught in the accidental act of voter fraud, Vlk said students should take the initiative to maintain voter registration in the proper place.
The importance of voting
Ken Boyd, who was recently re-elected to the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, said it is important for all college students to take advantage of voting opportunities.
In light of University students' opportunity to choose between registering to vote at home through absentee ballots or to register in the Charlottesville or Albemarle County precincts, he said he encourages students to weigh their options and become involved in political decision-making.
"I think it is very important for people to take part in the electoral process, and I think there are a lot of graduate students and even four-year college students that are more interested in this community than their home community," Boyd said. "The important thing is to vote and to get in the habit of voting."
Andresen said she encounters many students who are interested in voting in the Charlottesville area.
"A lot of students, especially out-of-state students, spend more time here than at their home state," Andresen said. "They feel that [local] representatives have a bigger influence on issues [such as] tuition. A lot of people feel like as you go through college, you live in Charlottesville, so a lot of people feel this becomes their home because they spend so much time here."
Boyd said the bottom line is that voter turnout is difficult to achieve, even though voter turnout was relatively strong for last week's elections.
"It is way below what it should be," Boyd said. "Any elected official would encourage students to register to vote, and then determine what they want to do with that vote."
Vlk said the goal of Center for Politics representatives is to prepare students for the underrated political process of voting.
"It is an education process, and we are doing our best to help students who come to the tables," Vlk said. "Think of voting as an exam, something you have to prepare for -- it is about finding out about candidates, polling places and times you can vote"
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