Regardless of your political allegiances, last Wednesday was a relief. The Tom Perriello and Robert Hurt ads stopped dominating the airwaves; Larry Sabato brought more recognition to the University and lawns and front yards had grass again rather than political signs. Most important, pro-voting messages and incessant lectures finally ceased. The intention behind this bi-annual pro-voting movement is well-intentioned, but in actuality causes more harm than good.
Voting is the ultimate duty any citizen can take part in, but the significance has depreciated in value in recent years. Representatives are supposed to be elected based on the will of their constituents, but students hardly count as constituents in college towns such as Charlottesville. Students are temporary residents and thus should not register to vote in the Fifth Congressional District - unless this is their home residence - just to help elect a candidate. The University's Perriello volunteers drove vans from three stops on Grounds to polls on Election Day from the early hours in the morning until closing time. They were not to be outdone by the College Republicans at Liberty University, however, who had similar initiatives on behalf of Hurt.
The typical University student will only live in Charlottesville for eight months out of the year - three months away from the University during the summer and another during Winter Break. Of these eight months, the student will be impacted mostly by the community within a community, namely the University community - not the congressional district. We are almost a separate and exclusive entity. There is no doubt that administrative decisions have a bigger impact on the typical college student than a congressional vote does. As politically incorrect as it may sound, these elections do not matter to students as much as they do to full-time residents.
As is the case with most fourth-year students, I will only reside in the Fifth District for four months during Congressman-elect Hurt's term in Washington, whereas he will represent Charlottesville residents for 24 months. That is a six-fold difference, meaning Hurt will only represent me for one-sixth the time he will for a permanent resident. I cannot divide my vote to count as one-sixth in the Fifth and five-sixths in Virginia's 11th District, so the fair approach would simply be to vote in the 11th district.
A vote should be equal regardless of who casts it, but the intention behind this was to get fair representation. College students are disproportionately represented when they register in a district of which they are not a permanent resident. A vote from a temporary resident does not represent the district like a vote from a permanent resident. But since we cannot weigh votes based on impact, the best decision is for students to exclude themselves from the local voting process all together.
Thus, casting a vote - especially during the final year of school - is an extremely selfish and strictly political move. Unless you can make a case to say you are as impacted by the Fifth District election than a Charlottesville resident is, it is best that you register and vote where you live permanently.
I understand the thought process of a lot of the college students volunteering for political campaigns, mainly for Perriello. They may think that by registering and mobilizing college students and getting their candidate into office, they are acting in the best interest of the district, the state and the nation. They forget, however, that the district does not need a few thousand college students to "speak" for it. After all, permanent Charlottesville residents can make their own decisions. A majority will win and we should not impose our outsider views on the hundreds of thousands of residents in the district.
Perriello has been a fighter for the Fifth District during his brief time in office. I get the impression that he truly does care about the people, and his concession speech last week was further evidence of that. Because the pre-Election Day rally downtown seemed to highlight his affiliations with President Obama and the Democratic Party, he was a victim of the anger and disenchantment sweeping the nation. Objectively, he might be the best man for the job. Objectivity, however, does not matter in politics. The only principle is that majority rules. Fifth District residents wanted a new representative and they made that clear Election Day. They do not need the help or hindrance of college students to determine their congressman. Let them have their rightful say and hold yours for your hometown.
Hung Vu's column appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at h.vu@cavalierdaily.com.
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