Radford's voter registrar -- the latest to irk students seeking to register to vote in their college town -- is calling on state lawmakers to clarify election laws.

The laws are unclear as they relate to students, said Tracy Howard, registrar in the city that houses Radford University, and the ambiguity has put him at odds with a student group and the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia.

At issue is Howard's practice of mailing postcards to, or calling students who list their dormitory address as their home address on voter-registration applications that were turned in by a third party.

Howard says he follows up to make sure students understand that they are reporting their legal address. He said he has received applications with home addresses scratched out and replaced with a dorm address.

"I feel like I have to send the postcards," he said. "I know that these third-party groups out there, they're not giving individuals an opportunity to put in their home addresses."

The ACLU of Virginia has urged Howard to stop sending the postcards.

"This can only be construed as an attempt to dissuade students from registering to vote in Radford, or a ploy to trick them into providing contradictory information that could stall the registration process past the deadline," ACLU Executive Director Kent Willis said.

Students may use their college dormitory address as their residence for purposes of registration, according to the State Board of Elections.

It sent that clarification after issues with voter registration were reported in other college towns. The ACLU sent a letter on Sept. 4 to 32 registrars in areas where college students are likely to live, urging the officials to let students register to vote where they attend school.

Rebecca K. Glenberg, legal director of the ACLU of Virginia, asked Howard to stop sending the postcards -- which ask for the address that the student considers their home address -- when a student has already provided a home address on the application.

A group of Radford students called the Fair Voter Registration Alliance planned to hold a demonstration against Howard today but decided to hold off after talking with Howard.

"He and I still disagree on [the postcards]," said Clarissa Clarke, a Radford sophomore and co-founder of FVRA, "but we came to an agreement that one, we want to get as many students registered as possible before Oct. 6 and two, that there's a bigger issue of a lack of a clear definition of student residency as it comes to voting rights in the Virginia Code."

Trae Cotton, Radford's dean of students, said he supports students' rights to vote using their college address.

"With all of the challenges facing the United States today . . . we should support any effort by our country's newest voters to become involved in the democratic process," he said in a news release.

Howard said he's not trying to block students from registering to vote and that he wants to make sure the correct process is followed.

"I am calling on the General Assembly to finally step up and address this," said the registrar of 16 years. "It's getting out of hand."
Contact Olympia Meola at (804) 649-6812 or omeola@timesdispatch.com.