Of all the places you'd expect to read an op-ed in favor of blocking college students from registering to vote locally, a college newspaper doesn't top the list. But Virginia Tech's Collegiate Times does just that. The paper says that student's transient nature means that they don't have any vested interest in local politics. Furthermore, they suggest some sort of litmus test for registering voters to "protect" local affairs.

Certainly, when a student makes an effort to become domiciled in a college town - when he or she is independent of parents or guardians, acquires a permanent local address, registers a vehicle, pays local taxes, works a year round local job, invests a long term and intimate relationship in the town and generally creates a local life - he or she deserves a vote. But a college kid living intermittently in a dorm has no right to expect a say in local affairs.

Why not come out in favor of a poll tax or reading test? On this issue, they couldn't be more wrong. First of all, how a person would vote should have no bearing what-so-ever on whether or not they are granted voter registration.

Second, no matter how long a person resides in a town, he has a vested interest in local political decisions. When you live in a town whether it be for one year or four, you are subject to local laws, local taxation, and of course local politics. The Blacksburg mayor and town council pass laws which the students of Virginia Tech are required to obey. Since they are directly impacted, albeit temporarily, by the decisions of local politicians they should have a voice in the political process if they so choose.

The Collegiate Times arrogantly writes that casting absentee ballots should be the only voting privilege that college students enjoy: "There is little inconvenience, and you cast your vote where it belongs - at home."

When I was in college 10 to 12 months out of the year, Blacksburg was my home.