W&M students get ACLU backing to vote

The civil-liberties group says it will join the school's president in urging Williamsburg to let students register.

The ACLU of Virginia said Tuesday that it would back College of William and Mary President Gene Nichol in his goal to change the city registrar's mind about allowing college students to register to vote in local elections.

The ACLU has offered to review the applications of rejected students and help them correct any mistakes or include any necessary - but missing - information. Kent Willis, the organization's director, said the ACLU was prepared to file lawsuits on behalf of students if circumstances warranted.

Willis said that students effectively lived in Williamsburg for four years while in school and that it's important for them to participate in the community. "Registrars who create barriers for people to vote in their communities aren't doing their jobs," Willis said.

Nichol sent a letter to students last week, encouraging them to register to vote in Williamsburg by Monday, the deadline before the May 2 municipal election, if they chose to.

"The registration process being employed in Williamsburg is a violation of the U.S. Constitution," he wrote. Nichol said it's far simpler for students at other schools to register to vote in their cities or counties than in Williamsburg.

The problem for students seems to hinge on the state's ambiguous law regarding residency for voting purposes. According to the law, a "domicile" is different from an "abode" - which could be interpreted as a temporary residence like a dorm room. But a domicile is considered to be where a person pays taxes, registers a car or where parents, a spouse or children live.

Williamsburg Registrar David Andrews previously said state law required students to prove that their dorm rooms were their permanent address before they registered. That doesn't apply only to students, he said, but to members of the military who might live in the city for fewer than 12 months. "Students are treated no differently than other applicants," he said.