Sacramento Bee sets the record straight: Students can vote on campus!

In case you haven't heard, there's a common intimidation factor that is used to suppress the youth vote on college campuses: tell students registering to vote at their college that doing so might cause them to lose their scholarships or financial aid, or that their parent's tax status will be jeopardized.

The New York Times recently reported on problems at Virginia Tech (which just happens to be a swing state), at which the local registrar sent out notices warning of dire consequences for registering on campus.

Well, thankfully the Sacramento Bee lays the facts out for us in an Editorial titled: "Students can vote at college addresses." They lay out the problems in Virginia:

"Too often, election officials actively discourage young people from voting. We're seeing this now, especially in battleground states.

Here's one example. Inside Higher Education has reported that in Virginia Tech University's county, a registrar issued a press release telling students that if they register to vote at their college address, their parents will no longer be able to declare them as dependents in income-tax filings, that the students could lose their scholarships and that they could lose health, auto or other insurance coverage.

None of this is true. But this county is not alone in spreading such untruths."

A 1979 Supreme Court decision affirmed a student's right to vote while away at school. Furthermore, the editorial points out that:

"The U.S. tax code explicitly allows dependents to live away from home while attending school. And students covered on their parents' health insurance plans aren't affected if they register to vote in another county or state. Financial aid has nothing to do with where a student votes.

Virginia isn't the only place this is happening. Other states and local communities make it difficult for students to vote. This stuff needs to be exposed. People everywhere should stand up for voting rights."

As we head out in the next few weeks to register voters, make sure you spread the word: Students can register, and vote, right where they go to school.