Board of Elections OKs new voter residency rules

Posted to: Elections News Politics Virginia
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The Associated Press
© August 31, 2009

RICHMOND

New voter residency rules approved by the State Board of Elections are aimed at settling an election season issue that often involves college students.

The rules approved Saturday would allow college students to register to vote at their campus addresses. The rules say a person's primary home is the physical place where he or she lives, and is considered to be the center of a person's "domestic, social and civil life."

In previous election cycles, conflicting opinions were issued by local registrars across the state on the use of dorm addresses as permanent residences by student voters.

The U.S. Department of Justice must approve the rules before they can be implemented.

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This may Not work out well. If a student is Not enough of a

Submitted by henry on Tue, 09/01/2009 at 5:09 am.

Virginia Resident to pay in-state tuition rates there is no way that person should be allowed to vote in Virgina Elections. And if the student is a Virginian then the Electoral board should at least be able to adequately assure us the student is not voting elsewhere in Virginia. How many years of Virginia residency does it take to get in-state tuition? That's how long it should take to establish residency in any locality for students to be able to vote in that locality. Why, because students for the most part are not paying the same level of taxes as the residents. In many cases the students live on land that is not taxable by the locality. The main revenue source for localities in Virginia is the Real Estate tax. Why should those that are not subject to that tax be allowed to vote on decisions concerning the spending of that tax? In some cases the student body is so much larger than the locality it is in, the long-time residents would no longer have voice where they live. When I was in college I did not feel I had a right to vote where I lived 8 months of the year. I voted by absentee ballot at home.

sad coverage

Submitted by chrisd on Mon, 08/31/2009 at 4:40 pm.

While this is not sensational news, it is surely to have a far greater impact on local, state, and federal elections than someone's graduate thesis. It is disappointing that the VP did not assign a "journalist" to this story and interview poly-sci scholars to explain the impact of this decision. Legitimate voters will be disenfranchised by this rule, and there will be nothing we can do about it. The cornerstone of our Republic is integrity, accountability, and personal responsibility. This ruling throws all of that out the window, and the coverage is minimal.

So let me think this through...

Submitted by smileypaul on Mon, 08/31/2009 at 9:42 am.

If I work for a big corporation, or the military, and they send me to a location for four years for a project, and then end up moving me back - while I am THERE I cannot vote?

How is that different than someone coming HERE for four years of college and then going back somewhere else?

there are allowances for this situation

Submitted by chrisd on Mon, 08/31/2009 at 10:00 am.

You contact the election authority in your jurisdiction of residence and request an absentee ballot, or you establish residency in your new location according to the laws of that jurisdiction.

how about voting where you pay your taxes?

Submitted by Wm D Tabor DDS on Mon, 08/31/2009 at 9:27 am.

In small towns, the "college vote" can easily sway elections.

So, you have a group of voters who are large in number but have little or nothing in common with the permanent residents, who pay little or no tax, and certainly no property tax, and who will not have to live with the consequences of the choices they make, because they will only live there a few years, setting the course of local government.

That should work out well.

I can just see it!

Submitted by gknutson on Mon, 08/31/2009 at 9:05 am.

I can just see it. The Mayor of somewhere, VA, population 5000, was elected by a vote of 12,500 to 3000. Possible scenario? Yep. Think it can't happen? The Board of Elections sure seems to have opened the door for it.

Integrity?

Submitted by lawrenceb82104 on Mon, 08/31/2009 at 8:52 am.

Gee! I wonder which side thought up this idiotic plan. It worked well for them in the presidential election so why stop there. Voting will be a joke before we know it.

fraud waiting to happen

Submitted by chrisd on Mon, 08/31/2009 at 7:23 am.

So a resident of Wisconsin, with a Wisconsin drivers license, Wisconsin license plates, their Federal income taxes are paid from a Wisconsin address, their bank statements are mailed to a Wisconsin address, and who receives Federal Financial Aid at a Wisconsin address can VOTE IN VIRGINIA just because they attend ODU or William and Mary? In our last election, students voted both in their host jurisdictions and in their jurisdiction of residence by absentee. Our system cannot police the election process enough to stop this. So how do we verify and ensure integrity of the process when we create such opportunities for fraud?