George,

Am I correct in my understanding that anybody who says that they filled out and sent in a registration form will be considered to be registered and thus allowed to vote at the mass meeting? Filling out and sending in a registration application is not the same thing as actually being registered. Plenty of the forms that are sent in are rejected for a variety of reasons.

Don't misunderstand me. I want more young people to be a part of the process as much as anyone else does. In the last City Council election there were only 1376 women age 19 to 25 registered and only 33 actually voted! If more young people voted we probably wouldn't have a City Council that unanimously agrees that it's fine to use their power to try to limit the supply (and consequently drive up the price) of rental housing.

If the Democrats really want to increase participation they ought to make it clear that filing is enough and quit pretending that filing is the same as actually getting registered. If this isn't clarified you risk the charge that UVa students who vote without being entered into the books have lied and committed an honor code violation by claiming to be registered voters when they weren't.

Cordially,

Kevin Cox (electronic mail, February 18, 2000).