STEALING VOTES, IT'S UN-AMERICAN TO BLOCK YOUNG PEOPLE'S BALLOTS

In what could be an historic turnaround, 72 percent of college
students in a national survey said they were registered to vote and
would "definitely" cast ballots on Nov. 2.

If the poll numbers gathered by Harvard's Institute of Politics play
out at the voting booth, this would be a welcome change in behavior
from 2000 when the majority of college students stayed away from the
polls. Next week we'll know for sure if the recent rise in voter
registration among college students is more than just a road paved
with good intentions.

Among the students polled, Sen. John Kerry holds a double-digit lead
over President Bush. If these newly registered voters follow through
by casting ballots, young people may play a pivotal role in next
week's election.

Given the growing importance of this demographic, it is disheartening
to learn that political operatives in battleground states have
targeted these voters for Election Day mischief. Last week,
Post-Gazette staff writer Dennis Roddy reported that University of
Pittsburgh students, among others, had their voting registrations
switched to Republican and polling locations changed when asked by
canvassers to sign bogus petitions -- one to legalize medical
marijuana, another to lower auto insurance rates for young drivers.
The scam is identical to one carried out a few weeks earlier in Oregon.

As registration tricks go, this one is particularly egregious because
it will lead to the kind of Election Day confusion that could not only
block a vote from being cast but also turn off a new voter to the process.

Some young people may find it difficult to exercise their franchise
next Tuesday because of these underhanded dealings. But they should
persevere. Although African-Americans won the right to vote a long
time ago, it took decades to abolish the literacy tests and poll taxes
that had been designed to discourage their participation.

Still, blacks did overcome. Young voters who want their choice to be
counted can overcome these reprehensible tactics as well.