Monday, September 8, 2008
How Virginia disenfranchises Obama voters
NOTE: I took down this post shortly after putting it up (the claim it made was clearly not something I had the facts to support). The Times article -- which had prompted me to write the post -- is still worth reading.
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I disagree with your hypothesis on this one - it seems to me that Virginia is encouraging college students who live in other states to vote in Virginia, implying more votes for Obama.
ReplyDeletePerhaps.
ReplyDeleteBut the voter registration instructions that had been on the Virginia State Board of Elector's website sure seemed designed to turn off students from voting, as per the NY Times article.
This is what the old voter instructions for students looked like (google cache):
http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:Soe5Pqoo79oJ:www.sbe.virginia.gov/cms/Voter_Information/Registering_to_Vote/College_Student.html+Registering_to_Vote/College_Student.html+virginia&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us&client=firefox-a
This is what the page looks like now:
http://www.sbe.virginia.gov/cms/Voter_Information/Registering_to_Vote/College_Student.html
For the record, this is what the old version -- cached page -- says:
Where should I register to vote?
Register to vote in the city or county in which you are a legal resident.
Here is what the instructions said on Sunday (they have since changed):
What is my legal residence?
You are the one to determine and declare the city, county and state in which you claim your legal residence. This may be the residence where your family lives, or the city or county and state where your school is located. Consider the following questions to determine which to declare:
* Are you claimed as a dependent on your parents’ income tax return? If you are, then their address is probably your legal residence.
* Do you have a scholarship that would be affected if you changed your legal residence? Some scholarships require that the student be a resident of a particular town, city or state. Contact the provider of your scholarship to determine if a change in your legal residence will affect your scholarship.
* Would your health, automobile or other insurance coverage be affected by a change in your legal residence? If you are covered under your parents’ insurance policy, your protection could be affected by a change in your legal residence.
Nevertheless, I still can't explain why the old instructions had been crafted as they had been. I think that's what the Obama campaign decided. It seems like there is no easy explanation for how the webpage got to look that way.
That's actually quite funny - I can see your point now, but here's the thing - if those are Virginia's rules (and no matter what the intent, they do make sense in accordance to typical laws in the States regarding residency and university), then it may send local college kids back to their home states to vote, but it will in fact bring home Virginians to vote as well!
ReplyDelete... then it may send local college kids back to their home states to vote, but it will in fact bring home Virginians to vote as well!
ReplyDeleteThat's funny. Does Virginia export more students than it imports?
There are about 60 four-year colleges and universities in Virginia and the state's population is about 7 million. Assuming that about 50% of college students remain in-state (I have no idea how accurate that is), I would guess it actually imports more, but I couldn't find stats on the population aged 18-22.
ReplyDeleteMassachusetts, on the other hand, DEFINITELY imports more than it exports. Definitely want to know their voting laws now.
Massachusetts, yes, importing state.
ReplyDeleteConsidering the large number of highly educated parents who work in DC and live Virginia . . . A lot probably send their kids outside the state, as only a handful of Virginia schools are top-ranked, too few to satisfy the number of student residents with high aspirations.
Somebody must collect statistics on this issue.
ReplyDeleteHow does actual DISENFRANCHISEMENT fits into this?
ReplyDeleteLet me guess - sceit might have something to do with who you'd prefer to see in office? Is that the thing that triggered the use of such an extreme conclusion?
How does actual DISENFRANCHISEMENT fits into this?
ReplyDeleteThe title of this post "How Virginia disenfranchises Obama voters" points to a NY Times article that looks at the issue. Have a look.
Let me guess - sceit might have something to do with who you'd prefer to see in office? Is that the thing that triggered the use of such an extreme conclusion?
I have neither 1) arrived at any conclusion extreme or otherwise; or 2) "used" any conclusion.