There is a nuance to this arrangement that asks us to realize that in some ways our voices all count, but that we would still do well to occasionally listen to those with knowledge and the talent to apply this.
The situation involving Friday's CT story on voter registration demonstrates one of these problems: the difficulty of applying sufficiently subtle expertise in particular, novel cases.
Clearly the issue of the full legal consequences of registering in Montgomery County is a murky one to expert and non-expert alike, so one must rely on the advice of those more informed than we are. As student journalists, writers at the CT have limited expertise in both in life and in our professional capacities.
However, the relationships between journalists and the experts, professionals and general those-in-the-know who sustain them are difficult ones. We do our best to get the story correct. They do their best to give us the story as they see it.
A democracy needs the free movement of ideas. But this movement is an imperfect flow. Ideas are garbled, laws are unclear and sometimes ideas and themes come out half-baked or worse.
It is one of the exhilirating parts of journalism to be along for the ride on the great discussions of the issues that matter most to modern society.
The point is not to drown amidst the clutter.
Unfortunately, Virginia state electoral registration regulation is an extremely convoluted and unworkable system. Wherever you turn, loopholes and possible exceptions abound. Registrars "may" or may not apply nearly a dozen criteria to determining the outcome of one's voter registration application. Students attest that they have changed their registration and no judicial lightning bolt struck them while registrars maintain that students sit squarely outside the law when they register at their college address.
On this point, at least, the Virginia State Board o f Elections is clear: if you are an out-of-state student, its Web site specifically states that you should not register in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
And that's where the clarity ends.
We call on the state of Virginia to produce a single, unifying document addressing student voting rights. Without clear guidelines, the headaches will be back every election season.
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