Students Protest for Right to Vote

HEMPSTEAD, Texas —  Hundreds of students at Prairie View A&M; University marched to county court Thursday to protest efforts by a local official to keep them from voting because of questions about their residency.

The students from the predominantly black school held a rally in front of the Waller County Courthouse, spilling into the streets, and later filled out voter registration cards.

“In the 1960s, we were marching for our civil rights. Here we are in 2004 and we are still fighting for our rights,” said senior Abraham Robinson.

County Dist. Atty. Oliver Kitzman has said the students aren’t necessarily entitled to vote where they go to school, and that students and other residents, such as military personnel, must meet state-mandated residency standards.

Kitzman, who is white, did not immediately return a telephone call from Associated Press on Thursday.

An opinion on the students’ right to vote is expected next week from the Texas secretary of state.

LaToya Calvin, a senior, said she thought politics and race were behind the eligibility issue. The 21-year-old from Oklahoma said she values her right to vote in the county where she has lived the last few years.

“Prairie View can pull a majority of the vote in the county,” she said. “I think they are trying to hold us from that.”