Imagine you're a 19-year-old college student with a stellar academic background, a solid understanding of current political issues, and the buzz of getting to vote for the first time in your life. You're a sophomore at an out-of-state college, reading blogs and newspapers daily to stay abreast of the heated contest for the presidency.

Then the local registrar of elections tells you that if you register to vote as a college student in your adopted state, your parents will no longer be able to claim you as a dependent on their tax returns, and you'll lose your scholarship, as well as coverage by your parents' health and auto insurance plans.

This is exactly what happened at Virginia Tech this year, which some believe was an effort to thwart left-leaning students from voting for Barack Obama in a predominantly right-wing state. The warning was issued on August 25th, incidentally the first day of the Democratic National Convention. Shortly thereafter, the school sent around another, more subdued warning, that quoted the Board of Elections Website directly, but took that site's "warnings" out of context, making them both vague and foreboding.

The Obama campaign said the release sounded like a "good-faith effort" to inform students of state guidelines, and did not suspect foul play of the sort I suggested above. Moreover, the initial release was reportedly written by an intern, which may account for some of its murky language.

Still, when young adults are getting involved in politics for the first time and are trying to get their bearings, murky language and vague threats are not the best introduction. Or maybe they are. The political process is anything but clean, and maybe its best to let young people in on this dirty little secret as early as possible. Make 'em learn the hard way, so to speak.

On second thought... no. Virginia should just stop bullying its college students into not voting. It's unAmerican.