I thank Laura Briggs, Associate Professor at the University of Arizona, for bringing this to my attention.
A segment of today's NPR "Morning Edition" dealt with the issue of student voting rights and contained a glaring inaccuracy.
Here is the url for the NPR story:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4052263
Renee Montagn stated that "local rules vary" with respect to students' right to vote where they go to school. That is false. In 1979, the US Supreme Court ruled in Symm v. US that students may vote in their college towns. Imposing residency requirements on students that are more stringent than for the population at large is a violation of the US Constitution.
Yesterday's New York Times had an excellent editorial about the ways in which local officials often try to obstruct student voting.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/28/opinion/
NPR must be called to task on its sloppy reporting of this issue. Today's broadcast could have the effect of chilling student voter turnout across the country. NPR needs to immediately issue an on-air correction with as much prominence as the original story.
You know what to do:
Emails: ombudsman@npr.org, corrections@npr.org
Phone: 202-513-3232.
If you think this issue is important, please recommend this diary.