Photos by Justin Cook | The Roanoke Times

A volunteer at Virginia Tech helps a person register to vote.

Lucy Britt (left) and Emily Eyestone make calls in support of Barack Obama at his local headquarters in Blacksburg.

A Montgomery County official's attempt to outline state elections law for thousands of Virginia Tech students this week prompted a swift reaction from Barack Obama campaign officials, who worried the statement could have a "chilling effect" on a massive registration effort now under way.

Montgomery County Registrar Randy Wertz said he wrote the news release, distributed through the county's Web site, amid concerns that the hundreds of Tech students registering to vote using their Blacksburg addresses would essentially change their permanent address. That, he wrote, could affect students' scholarships or tax filings and would obligate them to change car registrations and their driver's license to their permanent address.

But Obama campaign officials said they had never heard of students' dependency status on their parents' tax forms affected by their voter registration and added that other laws the release cited are rarely enforced or subject to interpretation. Wertz issued a second statement two days later, saying the county cannot give out tax advice.

"They thought we might be intimidating the students and keeping them from registering," Wertz said. "That certainly was not our intent."

The Obama campaign's response highlights the state's newly minted battleground status, but it is also reviving long-held concerns that a gray area in state election law regarding residency could leave college students vulnerable to having their registrations challenged because of their transient status. Language in the state law could be interpreted to bar students from using their college address if they consider their residence temporary.

"What we believe is that if a student is living on campus, that's a perfectly acceptable residence to register to vote," Richmond-based Obama campaign spokesman Kevin Griffis said. Wertz said he agrees and has no plans to challenge anyone who lists their college address. But he said students with a different address than Blacksburg listed on their driver's licenses could have problems if they show up at a Montgomery County polling place without their voting card.

In Radford, however, Registrar Tracy Howard said he plans to call anyone listing a Radford University dorm room as an address to find out whether students consider their dorms their permanent residences. Radford's classes start Monday.

"A dorm is generally -- and I say generally -- the same thing as a long-term motel stay," he said. "There are people that don't have another place to stay, and they're perfectly eligible."

Griffis said Howard's interpretation sounded too narrow. "I think if we need to have a conversation with the registrar about the way he's interpreting the law, that's something we'll do."

He added, "We have done quite a bit of homework on this, and we've already worked through similar problems in other places."

Charlottesville Registrar Sheri Iachetta said she faces the same issues with University of Virginia students as registrars in Radford and Montgomery County. But the question of whether students can consider addresses at college permanent is one she said she leaves up to the voter.

"I'm not going to question anyone. They have to sign under penalty of perjury that the information they gave me was correct," Iachetta said. "They're 18 years of age and they're away from home, and they can make their own decision."

But she acknowledged the ambiguities in the law, saying that officials "ask for clarification every single year." Even so, Iachetta said she has focused most of her energy on educating students running registration drives rather than enforcing rules. It's an exciting time for registrars to have widespread engagement, she said, and she's stunned with the attitude some students have taken to voting.

"We had a young woman tell us that registering to vote was sexy," Iachetta said. "I said, 'Please, this is what I do.' I'm excited about all the enthusiasm ... but we do this every year."

Wertz, who said campus organizers are dropping off stacks of forms in the hundreds every few days, said he is similarly excited about the prospects of a huge youth turnout. But his focus is making sure elections run smoothly and fairly. That can be difficult when partisan groups see youth turnout as a political advantage, but as Wertz puts it, "We don't have a dog in this fight."

Griffis said that upon raising the concern, the campaign found Wertz "responsive, concerned about the students and making sure they're able to exercise their right to vote."

He said the campaign is now back to focusing on the registration effort.

Gail Gitcho, a spokeswoman for Republican John McCain's campaign, said although "the McCain campaign urges all young people to get involved in the democratic process," she noted that Democrats flush with donations have "money and staff to devote to voter registration efforts."

As a result, she said McCain campaign officials are taking a more targeted approach to registering voters rather than the blanket effort the Obama campaign is making.