Another case of GOP dirty tricks, the local registrar in Montgomery County, Va. â home to Virginia Tech University and the site of a sizeable Obama voter registration drive â issued two press releases incorrectly suggesting that students who register to vote at their college could lose scholarships, their dependency status or coverage under their parentsâ car and health insurance. BTW this person is a very strong GOP supporter.
http://www.wtop.com/?nid=25&sid=1474471 Va. Registrar's guidance prompts ACLU complaint September 8, 2008 - 5:10pm By LARRY O'DELL Associated Press Writer RICHMOND, Va. - Election officials in the county that is home to Virginia Tech were wrong when they issued a news release saying college students who register to vote there cannot be claimed as dependents on their parents' income tax returns, a civil liberties group said Monday. The news release came late last month during a voter registration drive at the university conducted by supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. The statement said that along with the tax benefit, students could risk losing residence-based scholarships. "First of all, it's not true," said Kent Willis, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia. "Second, it's obviously sort of an intimidation tactic to discourage students from voting in local elections." E. Randall Wertz, voter registrar for Montgomery County, said there was no nefarious intent. "We were providing information to students so they could make an informed decision," he said. "You've heard the saying: No good deed goes unpunished." After a lawyer for the Obama campaign and the ACLU complained, Wertz issued a revised news release saying his office is prohibited from offering advice on taxes or other benefits and suggesting anyone with questions about those issues direct them to the appropriate agency or organization. Asked for clarification on the tax issue, the Internal Revenue Service simply directed attention to the IRS Form 1040's three pages of instructions on dependents. Wertz said Monday that his original news release was based on information on the State Board of Elections Web site. On the question of where is a college student's legal residence, the site says: "Are you claimed as a dependent on your parents' income tax return? If you are, then their address is probably your legal residence." The site also says: "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." State Board of Elections Secretary Nancy Rodrigues did not return phone calls seeking comment. The Montgomery County incident prompted the ACLU to send letters to voter registrars in all Virginia college localities urging them to allow students to register to vote. The organization also sent letters to college newspapers asking them to publicize the issue. Voter registrars are nonpartisan positions, and the partisan makeup of local electoral boards is based on the governor's party affiliation. Because Gov. Timothy M. Kaine is a Democrat, that party has a 2-1 edge over Republicans on the Montgomery County Board of Elections, Wertz noted. This is not the first brouhaha over college student voter registration in Virginia, Willis said. The ACLU has objected to similar obstacles to registration of students at the University of Mary Washington and the College of William and Mary in recent years, he said. Willis said much of the problem stems from ambiguity in Virginia election laws, but that federal court cases around the county have consistently held that students have a right to register where they attend college. "The bottom line is Virginia law is not clear as regards student registration, and registrars are given an unusual amount of autonomy," he said. On that point, he and Wertz agreed. "The laws are very vague, and they need to clarify it for us," he said. "If any of these groups have a problem with it, they should take it up with the General Assembly." (Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;207172674;29440083;f Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:277283 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
