I guess students should hurry up and arrange absentee
ballots from their home addresses - I think that's what I'd do. What a dirty trick!

Isn't vote suppression and voter intimidation against the law, even in Virginia? Are there no interested parties that can bring a complaint or other legal filing against this? Until these folks start going to jail or have that prospect to fear it will not stop.

Seems sensible to me. If you want to vote in the local election you must be a legal resident. This is why there is absentee voting available.

Plus, LMAO at "Chilling"! It's a well timed press release informing people of the rules for an upcoming election and giving them plenty of time to ensure they are properly registered. Please explain how this is voter suppression and/or intimidation.

Makes Sense???

By making Montgomery County your permanent residence, you have declared your independence from your parents and can no longer be claimed as a dependent on their income tax filings --- check with your tax professional. If you have a scholarship attached to your former residence, you could lose this funding.

This is voter intimidation, striking out at the families who are supporting children through college - and is nothing more than an unethical way to suppress the college voting block. This is an outrage and a national shame. What's next? I'll bet the GOP is also looking at the military vote which is expected, based on their donations, to favor the Democratic Ticket. These are actions which should be heading straight to the Supreme Court, although with its conservative leaning, a win there isn't necessarily guaranteed - but it's worth the try. Where's the MSM's reporting on this issue? Why do Republicans seem to hate our constitution and the rule of law???

One, the registrar of voters office has retracted their statement about how registering may effect students. They have issued a new statement: "Questions regarding the effect --- if any --- that registering to vote in Montgomery County will have on a student’s benefits should be directed to the entity administering those benefits." Why doesn't Brad's Blog cover that? The statement was issued 10 days ago.

Two, the initial statement was probably factual. It's pretty hard to claim someone is dependent on you if they reside elsewhere.

Three, the county probably doesn't want students who are not really residents voting in their election which makes sense. Several years ago I spoke with a gentleman in Santa Cruz Ca. who told me that in their county all students have the right to vote whether residents or not. I don't want students who have no stake, voting on issues such as raising my taxes etc. This gentleman said that was a huge problem up there.

Four, voting by absentee ballot is simple. I did it for most of my Navy career. This is not stopping anyone from voting.

Five, in 23 years in the service I never knew anyone to donate to either party or any candidate but if you really believe the military will support the Democratic candidate I've got a bridge for sale that's perfect for you.

Six, the Supreme Court is conservative? Blahahaha!

Seven, ehh.. the Constitution statement was stupid

gettheledout said "It's pretty hard to claim someone is dependent on you if they reside elsewhere."

That's not true. The tax test for dependency is financial, not residency. You can support your kids in another state financially and claim them as dependents if they're going to school.

This Virginia thing was always a lie, meant to intimidate a block of voters. They have a stake in where they go to school, too, silly.

Fourth or something: voting by absentee ballot is too simple and not secure, so I don't; I vote in person by marking a paper ballot. As Brad recommends, by the way. I've always done that.

What the heck is the rest of your statement about? You writing an autobiography? Your circumstance doesn't dictate anyone else's. That's why they call this a free country; we're free to be as unlike you as we want.

gettheledout

One, link? Evidence?

Two, almost all college students are dependent on their parents while not living with them. Also lots of handicapped people.

Three, the Santa Cruz students are residents, have a stake and don't want the homeless treated like shit by the cops.

Four, a lot of people who want to make CERTAIN their ballots are counted don't want to vote by mail.

Five, just your word for it, but that sort of runs counter to recent news items....

Six, the SCOTUS is indisputably conservative... vastly too much so right now.

Seven, the Constitution statement was right on the money.

EIGHT: I remember your obnoxious comments from two years ago. It's still not okay to spew knowing disinformation on Brad Blog and please familiarize yourself with our RULES FOR COMMENTING AT BRAD BLOG before proceeding with this election season's trolling. Thank you.

If you want to vote in a local election you should be required to have permanent residence in that locality. That's what this is about. If you don't want to vote absentee ballot, and don't want to set up permanent residence in your new locality, then stay home.

I'm not trying to dictate anything, I merely wrote some comments. Why so angry?

Most "permanent" residents nowadays don't even live somewhere as long as the four or more years college kids do. You're advocating disenfranchising college kids. That's bound to piss people off.

agent 99:
http://www.montva.com/departments/vote/

You remember my comments from TWO years ago? Do you have a life?

Is this a left wing pep-rally or are opposing viewpoints allowed.

I have said nothing even remotely resembling what most would consider "trolling" comments. I merely expressed an opposing point of view. No one is advocating disenfranchising any voters. How you came to that conclusion is beyond me.

I work here, and I wish you'd consider taking your work elsewhere.

Not letting college kids vote where they live and go to school is disenfranchising college kids. Just denying you're doing it doesn't cut it.

Opposing points of view are welcome... except when they're... shall we say: sort of counter-constitutional? I've found that most Democrats and some Republicans frown on that in general.

When I first joined the military I moved from Ohio to California. For the first five years I was here I maintained my Ohio residency, therefor if I wanted to vote I had to do it by absentee ballot in Ohio. That's no different from a student. If I'm a student from Ohio but going to school in Virginia should I be able to vote in Virginia's local election? No. I don't own property, I don't pay taxes, I may not even have a Virginia drivers license. I shouldn't be able to vote to raise peoples property taxes etc. That's why there is an absentee ballot available to anyone who wants one. That's what this is about...

People who don't own property HAVE THE SAME RIGHTS AS THOSE WHO DO in the United States of America. It's UNCONSTITUTIONAL to try to legislate otherwise.

Go back to school.

Why are you so angry? I'm just trying to have a discussion about voting laws. And you got me on the property issue, that was an erroneous statement although I didn't mean to imply that you need to be a property owner to vote. Rather that you should be a resident. We can both agree that the Constitution gives the right to vote, the difference in opinion apparently is where you should be able to vote. I doubt we would ever come to an agreement on that. Enjoy your evening

Besides, renters pay the property taxes for the owners with their rent. And even people with no rent pay for dog licenses and driver's licenses and fines and sales tax... but even if they don't pay a plug nickel for any of that, they are STILL endowed with identical rights as those who do. If you're a citizen you can vote. Period. What you own or what you pay has NO bearing on that.

I knew some people, who felt about property taxes like you do, who voted in all the states where they owned property until I turned them in. It isn't seven-houses-seven-votes; it's one-person-one-vote.

I'm angry because it's the same old shit, the same old hair-splitting shit, over and over and over again. It's flat out unconstitutional and you don't learn. We work hard around here to uphold the Constitution, uphold America, and people coming in here stumping for ways to exclude voters, disenfranchise citizens, after all the work we do, tends to be irksome as hell.

And I know a guy who worked his butt off to SAVE the people of his county millions of dollars and they came after him on the grounds that he was only a student, wasn't a property owner and so didn't have standing to sue them for their perfidy.

Most of those so-called non-residents who are in school somewhere for four and more years care more for what's right than the average citizen, and they are heavily liberal, which IS what makes them a target by conservatives. Let's please get real about THAT much.

Keep the Led in....

If you look around I'm sure you will find an anti-gay amendment referendum (or something like it) on the ballot there also.

Besides not wanting to see their county vote for a n####r in overwhelming numbers, there has got to be something else going on.

The Awesome Steve Heller hits a ball out of the park.

Think, what I moved to VTech for the education, and then I suddenly get burned out. I drop out.. But wait, I just changed all my residence, now I can't vote anywhere.

It's not like we couldn't compare the registration from Geographic point A, to Geographic point B, and determine that I should go to jail for trying to vote twice..No, instead we have to toss my vote out completely.

Arrogant corrupt assholes in charge of our elections are really screwing us, this unconstitutional has got to stop. They can't keep rolling over our constitutional right to get the motherfuckine word out, by having us arrested on bullshit charges or intimidated by the cops.

THIS SHIT MUST STOP.

It has to.

And as far as using intelligence operations and FISA and Patriot act to go after liberals. (Or cough, ahem, the party of people who pay attention and do the right thing.)

That is domestic terrorism.

Why aint the active duty military on that shit, RIGHT NOW!!!?

Raise hell in the entry in your complaint in your local station's public file.

Raise hell in the interaction every time you hear a lie from a politician.

They have got to be made an example of.

Hey, you expect justice in VIRGINIA????
The home of the "Rocket Docket?"
Where to be accused of something is to be GUILTY of that thing?
Where you can spend from five to ten years in jail for violating a law that doesn't exist? (Ask Lyndon LaRouche or Mike Billington) - (Or Ramsey Clark)

Absentee ballots work fine in many(not all) OTHER States, but casting a ballot does NOT mean that your vote ends up in the statistics - the odds are very good the entire ballot ends up in the Dumpster.

Sorry, kids, but I fear the only way to MAKE SURE that your vote is counted is to take a quick trip home.

Oh - and do you use Diebold, ES&S or Sequoia voting machines? The odds are still quite good that your vote will not be counted as you cast it! The last HONEST election in this country was before the hackable machines were invented - well before; after all, paper ballots resulted in the (S)election of GWBush! The "Butterfly Ballot" in Florida resulted in 20,000 JEWS who thought thet were voting for Al Gore, "Voting" for PAT BUCHANAN!!!!

Rigging elections is "American as Apple Pie." The WORST of it is that the people who illegally and with malice aforethought, really BELIEVE that they are doing it "For the good of the Country!"

Ther is, allegedly, a road paved wit "Good Intentions." I am certain that the crap that's going on in VA does not bother the perps' consciences one little bit.

1.) TEDEGER, I was with you. Until I heard the word JEW. At that point I realized your just trying to piss me off.

2.) Look I worked was launching F4's in Valdosta Georgia, And GAFB, CA. I don't give a fuck about the Jewish. Friends, Lovers and enemys. I've seen all three. Who gives a fuck what people's religion is? I don't.

Rigging elections is NOT FUCKING AMERICAN as Apple FUCKING PIE! I point out that right now.

Folks, that think breaking the OATH OF OFFICE or your sworn oath is for the good of the country ARE Domestic Terrorists "by definition." PERIOD.

Virginia is also a NSA training ground, I know Cause I thought about trying to get a job.

So I hope your not inciting people to get pissed off, in a fucking US intelligence operation to ensnare targets (who are actually honest citizens) to destroy their lives. Cause that would make you MY enemy, if that was the case. And yeah, I would go all the way against you. I swore I would.

if cyber-warriors are attempting to bring that "open system" == "open racism" shit from Raw to BB, I won't put up with it. I will spend every fucking waking hour to volunteer to moderate your crap out. Don't be racist here. (Note I ain't attacking anyone specifically, just saying I will help RID this nonsense out.)

Furthermore I don't know what a "Rocket Docket" is. but in the USA your are not guilty until proven innocent. Maybe in the military you are. But not as a fucking Citizen!!! And to even suggest that is nearly inciting a riot. If not, it's the same styled tactic, or a tactic to instill fear.

People better wake the fuck up to all this shit.

Road Agents are not welcome in my line of sight.

If you pay for a parent to live in a nursing home, they can still be claimed as a dependent, even if they don't live with you.
Voter intimidation, nothing else.

First off: any lawyers out there? My understanding is that you CAN vote where you go to school just as legally as you can vote at your place of permanent residence.

Secondly: Montgomery County has been making it hard for students to vote for years. I don't know if they still do this, but at one point you couldn't vote in Blacksburg (where the school is located) but had to get to the next town over. That made it that much more difficult for a senior or grad student to vote, as almost every minute of the school week is accounted for at that point. (Message to lawyer: I'm pretty sure I remember seeing a Supreme Court case about this. Maybe you can reference that?)

I would trust that most students are practiced at the first rule of research - consider the source before evaluating the content.

Brad and most commentaries fail to point out that the content is of course extremely questionable if not out right false. (Follow the links to Steve Heller's site.)

One might hope that it would be condemned by the FEC and Virigina Election Board as inappropriate and prejudicial speech at the taxpayers expense. The correction on the website is a tacit acknowledgement thereof.

Finally, it is always difficult to evaluate when a student should emancipate due the complex financial realities, and students and parents would be well advised to consider their options thoroughly. My sophmore and senior will be voting by absentee ballot in a state which still hand counts our ballot in a public forum.

There is still time for these students to regsiter or re-register at home should they choose.

Perhaps an editorial to the Virginia Tech newspaper is in order?

Oh, Really, PHIL, _ Maybe you are not aau courant with what actually happened in 2000. PAT BUCHANAN, AS ANYONE WHO HAS NOT BEEN TERMINALLY ASLEEP FOR THIRTY YEARS KNOWS, is America's number one outspken Anti-Semite. For even ONE Jew to knowingly vote for him for President would be mind-boggling. For 20,000 of them to do that is incomprehensible on properly designed ballots! On a differently designed ballot, Al Gore would have been elected in a landslide. And maybe we'd not be a bankrupt Nation now.

This was the law when I attended college. I registered to vote from my parents address and voted absentee ballot. It didn't help. Nixon still won.

TEDEGER

I think Phil mistook what you were saying, thinking you were griping about Jews when you were griping about the screwed up ballots.

Phil

Would you please read more carefully before accusing someone of all that stuff?

The tax part is simply untrue at the Federal level. Under current tax law if a parent supplies more than 50% of a students support, then that student is a dependent. Furthermore, kiddie tax applies to all student / dependents under the age of 24 - the child pays tax at the parents marginal rate above $1700.

And, I must have been terminally asleep for thirty years. What little knowledge I have of Pat Buchanan tells me he tries damn hard to tell the truth as he sees it and is one of the most respect-worthy conservatives out there. Jimmy Carter is now known as our number one anti-Semite and so, pfeh, excuse me if I doubt Buchanan is as awful as all that.

It's perfectly decent to complain of Israel's outrageous mistreatment of Palestinians, nothing anti-Semitic about it, and there are a lot of complaints about Israel or the Israel lobby that are not anti-Semitic either.

We try hard to keep racism out of here, but there really isn't anything wrong with having a bad opinion of another nation's policies. That's not racism.

Different states have different laws. For instance, Iowa gives students the right to vote in their declared hometown or in the town where they attend school: http://tinyurl.com/2ee7yf .

Virginia on the other hand requires you be a resident of the precinct where you seek to register: http://tinyurl.com/6fjpo8 .

Please note that the website for the Virginia State Board of Elections specifically spells out the rules to students for their benefit: http://tinyurl.com/yagwbz

So these moral republicans, are trying to have students disown their parents or have their right to vote taken away. Anybody see a problem with this happening within 2 months of this election. Why are they changing the rules NOW? The republicans have a serious problem with the right to vote. They have a serious problem with the constitution. They are anti-American, Traitors! I bet most of the people doing this anti-American act, voted under the same circumstances, when they were out of state students.

Do the student also have to now pay for their own tuition, Since they are now independent? Can Virginia Tech afford to lose all the tuition money, once the students become Independent? How many student will leave Virgina Tech?

TEDEGER, sorry I misinterpreted the way you were discussing Jewish people. I see a lot of very disturbing stuff on RAW. I didn't want it coming here. Most of it is so damn disgusting and repetitive that I don't read beyond certain key words. At this point "Jew" was in that list. That's what I did here.
I hope you accept my apology. It's all I can do is say, "sorry I fucked up."

The cyber-warrior stuff wasn't meant to be aimed at you personally, (albeit, reading what I said, in the next couple of comments, made it look like it was all directed at you. It also could be read another way.) It was meant to be in general. I do that a lot, I suck at making things like that clear. My mind gets overloaded with thoughts and theories about issues, and I tend to dump them all like a rough draft that never get's cleaned up.

I am human, I make mistakes, I made a mistake here. At least I can admit it.

Again, I am sorry TEDEGER.

Actually this rule came into effect by the States Constitution: http://tinyurl.com/5aq3ot

The law which states the how a residency is established is from the court case: Sachs v. Horan, 252 Va. 247 (1996) http://tinyurl.com/6fjpo8

Ok, lawyer weighing in.

I read the links provided above. Virgnia's law follows federal law (it better!). Basically,

1) if a person has a "domicile" (ie - living location) at a specific location (defined geographically in Virgina as a precinict), and

2) the "domicile" is not temporary (short term accomidations - this is determined by the person's intent - does the person INTEND the location to be their "domicile"), or the person is homeless, and

3) the person expressily indicates (written or orally) that said location is their "domicile" (there by excluding any other location as their "domicile")...

then that location is their legal residency for federal and state election purposes.

This statement attributed to the Registar is legally NOT correct and under no circumstances a valid legal statement:

"By making Montgomery County your permanent residence, you have declared your independence from your parents and can no longer be claimed as a dependent on their income tax filings --- check with your tax professional."

Legal residency has NOTHING to do with financial dependency (for state or federal tax or federal governmental benefits eligability).

Legal residency may effect eligabilty for state provided education benefits but not for state or federal income tax dependency purposes.

For state and federal tax and federal educational benefits - residency is immaterial.

As was mentioned eariler, dependency is a financial question not a residency question. The federal income tax code has a "50% rule" with nearly all federal government benefits following similar rules.

Anyone with a passing knowledge of custodial divorce agreements should know CLEARLY that residency is not a critria for federal tax or benefit qualification. Failing to know that tid-bit would surely open a lawyer to scorn, repremand and malpractice litigation.

gettheledout...you should consult a non-disbarred attorney before you spew GOP disenfranchising talking-points. Practicing law without a license is a criminal offense.

Please note Mr. Lawyer Bill, that as I stated above in comment #11 the Registrar has corrected their statement on August 27th which is not reported in this story.

Obviously I'm not a lawyer but I will try harder to not practice law so as to prevent criminal prosecution. I stated opinions, and I enjoy hearing other opinions, which is why I am at this website. The fact that any opinion, which is not in agreement with the typical user of this site, is met with scorn and derision is symptomatic of what's wrong with this country. Others on this thread have made incorrect statements but since it's lockstep with the common view it's allowed to slide and let others read it. I'm referring as an example to lugnut above who asks "Why are they changing the rules now?" The answer is, of course, that no one has changed the rules. Why don't you correct him?

I wouldn't disenfranchise anyone. One of the greatest things to come out of this failed administration is the fact that people, especially young people, are getting involved in politics in record numbers.

If my opinions are incorrect then I don't mind being educated and I say again that's why I visited this site. But cheap accusations are childish.

If the IRS can only legally call"income" from Federal employees or other federal sourced moneys,
It really shouldn't make that much difference. Google Sherry Peel Jackson and Joe Banister, both former IRS FRAUD investigators who claim, The IRS is the biggest FRAUD they have ever investigated. Maybe Google Aaron Russo.

I am from Virginia. There is no Montgomery County in Virginia. It is in Maryland.