More elections

Dover Cares...enough to vote unthinking people out of office. Photo: Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press.

Megan Kitzmiller, Dover Area High School senior and daughter of Tammy Kitzmiller, holds a sign supporting the Dover Citizens Actively Reviewing Educational Strategies (Dover C.A.R.E.S.) to cars pulling into the Dover Township Community Center polling place in Dover, Pa., on election day, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2005. The debate over how evolution is taught in this rural school district could influence whether eight school board members will remain in office after Tuesday. The Dover Area School Board incumbents are defending a board policy adopted in October 2004 requiring ninth-graders to hear about 'intelligent design'before learning about evolution in biology class. Eight Dover families, including Tammy Kitzmiller, are suing the school district, alleging that the policy violates the constitutional separation of church and state. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

I've been thinking that this blog is really about being engaged citizens, which is, as some of you know, of particular academic and practical interest to me.

So here's some more about elections yesterday.

First, all the Dover, Pennsylvania School Board members who voted and/or seriously advocated in favor of intelligent design were tossed out of office. That's as significant a vote as that in Hammonton, New Jersey. It's good to see consequences for bad choices.

Second, the ACLU must be weak in Virginia. Good news for those concerned with "smarter sprawl," a/k/a "Smart Growth," the election of the Democratic candidate for governor is likely more favorable to monitor and putting some parameters on sprawl.

Nonetheless, the Hampton Roads Daily Press ran some photographs of students at the College of William and Mary protesting "residency requirements that prevented many of them from voting in local elections." Thank you to the Express for tipping us off to this (front page photo, reproduced below).

Such local restrictions on student voting have been struck down for decades. I remember this from my time in college more than 20 years ago. Furthermore, local ANC commissioners (remember Westy Bird?) pursued this in the courts, trying to keep Georgetown University students from voting in DC. I don't know why they bothered, because case law in this area is well-established that such restrictions are illegal. Anyway, Westy Bird et al. lost and I am glad they did.

College of William and Mary students make their voices heard at they protest residency requirements which prevent students from other areas from voting locally. From left are Drew Cockram, Charlie Fritschner, Luther Lowe, and Matt Beato. Lowe was able to vote after litigation but Cockram, Fritschner, and Beato were not. The group protested near the polling station at the Williamsburg Community Building. Adrin Snider/Daily Press.

The College of William and Mary students need to get off the stick...