An update from Williamsburg, VA, where students continut to battle for their voting rights against a vague state law that allows local officials to discriminate against them and prevent them from voting. The issue of student voting rights, and this case in particular, is one that we have been monitoring and speaking out on for several years now. From the article:

Stereotypes notwithstanding about the City of Williamsburg's mature populace, fully 45% are 18-24. That's because 5,700 undergraduates attend the College of William & Mary, and 80% of them live in dorms within city limits.

The President of the school, Gene Nichol, has now joined student leaders in calling for an end to the unfair restrictions on students voting where the live in Williamsburg. He recently sent out an email to the student body encouraging them to vote:

This week Nichol sent a blast e-mail to the student body encouraging them to vote and assuring them that he was advocating for legislation to make student voting easier. He directed them to the website www.voteinwilliamsburg.com, which was created by the Student Assembly. It encourages students to vote locally because:

* Off-campus housing codes affect where they live and how many people they can live with.

* Students depend on the pay and working environment of jobs.

* Noise ordinances affect students.

* Local taxes, prices and business zoning laws all have an impact.

"For those students who want to vote in Williamsburg, I think that it ought to be far easier to register and to vote," said Nichol in an interview Friday. "We shouldn't have unconstitutional barriers to prevent them from that.

David Sievers, a leading activist on this issue and a founder of a national network called the Student Voting Rights Campaign, is running for City Council in Williamsburg.

If students stand up and get involved, they may finally get some representation in the government that makes decisions where they live.