RADFORD – In the midst of a political campaign that has tremendous historical implications, and with all eyes on Virginia, a key battleground state for the presidential nominees, organizations across the Commonwealth are working diligently to register voters, particularly young voters.

Wanting to locally promote the importance of voter registration, Jordan Draper, the legislative vice president for Radford University’s Student Government Association (SGA), applied for and was recently awarded one of the first Youth Service America (YSA) 2008 Virginia Campus Vote Initiative Mini-Grants.

The grant of $500, which is administered by YSA and is funded by a variety of donors from the 2008 Campus Vote Initiative, will subsidize voter engagement efforts in which students, faculty and staff on Virginia campuses will make efforts to increase civic engagement in their school and surrounding community. The other recipients of the mini-grant were Blue Ridge Community College and George Mason University.

“The YSA mini-grant is very important to SGA and Radford University because we now have the means to help with voter registration and to promote this year’s crucial election,” said Draper. “It is very important that students get out and support their beliefs and ideals by voting. This really could be a milestone, and our generation can make the difference!”

This grant comes on the heels of a recently formed student movement, RU Fair Voter Registration Alliance (FVRA). Just last week, several Radford University students and members FVRA were planning to hold a demonstration against City of Radford General Voter Registrar Tracy Howard on October 1. According to FVRA, Howard had rejected voter registration applications from RU students who listed their residence hall as their domicile and were not giving students the same presumption of residency as other citizens.

Today, Tracy Howard has joined FVRA’s cause to uphold student voter registration rights. FVRA and Howard are planning to hold a demonstration against the Virginia General Assembly, urging legislators to clearly define student voter registration laws, specifically whether students may be allowed to list their residence hall as their domicile.

“I absolutely want the Virginia General Assembly to define this law,” he said. “We really are trying to register as many students as possible, but I have to uphold our current policies and verify student addresses. Admittedly, Virginia law regarding student voter registration addresses is very archaic and vague, so I want to work with these students to introduce legislation to the General Assembly and ask them to clearly define student residency.”

According to Clarissa Clarke, a member and co-founder of FVRA, a demonstration against Virginia legislators will be held in November. Howard explained that, because there are only seven more days left to register to vote in Virginia for the 2008 elections, he cannot change his procedures at this time. However, he is more than willing to bring those policy issues forward before the next general election. And according to Clarke, Howard is even willing to encourage other county registrars to become involved with the demonstration.

A 1979 Supreme Court case, Symm v. U.S., states that students have the right to vote at their college address and rules unconstitutional the distribution of verification questionnaires to on-campus students who try to register. Clarke still plans to address the legality of address verification cards Howard has distributed to on-campus students only, claiming that the card is a questionnaire and is therefore unconstitutional. According to Clarke, the ACLU plans to contact Howard urging him to cease what they claim is a discriminatory process.

“I am pursuing that matter on the side,” said Clarke. “But Mr. Howard and FVRA have come to an agreement that, in order to register as many students as possible in Virginia, the Virginia law regarding student residency needs to be clarified. And we are willing to work together to make sure that happens.”

Trae Cotton, RU’s dean of students, has voiced the university’s support of students’ rights to vote using their college address. “With all of the challenges facing the United States today -- from climate change to international conflicts to the state of the economy -- we should support any effort by our country’s newest voters to become involved in the democratic process,” he said. “Indeed, they are the ones on whom we place our greatest hopes.”

According to Draper, the RU SGA will use the YSA mini-grant to attract the campus community to campaign-centered events held in conjunction with College Republicans, Young Democrats, Students for John McCain and Students for Barack Obama. Those events are scheduled to include airings of the first presidential debate; the vice presidential debate, currently scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 2, at 9 p.m., with an information session prior to the event highlighting viewpoints from John McCain and Barack Obama; and a debate between Republicans and Democrats on Tuesday, Oct. 28

On Monday, Nov. 3, SGA will host a mock election where students may vote online. The organization will use data from the outcome to compare RU results to state and nationwide poll results. On Election Day, SGA will provide shuttle transportation to and from polls for students.

While the voter registration events are geared toward Radford University students, Draper encourages everyone in the community to participate. For more detailed information about the SGA voter registration events, contact Jordan Draper at jdraper10@radford.edu.

To learn more about the RU FVRA, visit the alliance blog or contact Clarissa Clarke at (213) 447-2474 or clarissaclarke@gmail.com.

For more information about voter registration in Virginia, visit the Virginia State Board of Elections.