RICHMOND -- Voter registrars in college communities throughout the state -- including Radford -- were inundated last year with student applications reporting their campus addresses as their permanent residences.

Lacking clear guidelines from the State Board of Elections, the registrars took varying approaches to dealing with the surge.

Now the Board of Elections is working with a task force of registrars, voting rights groups and the state's major political parties to develop uniform standards for applying the law that determines a person's voting residence.

The General Assembly passed omnibus election reform legislation this year that would require the board to ensure uniform regulation of the law. Gov. Tim Kaine has yet to act on the bills after lawmakers rejected proposed changes Kaine made to part of the bill.

The task force met for the first time Tuesday and plans to complete its work by July 1.

Radford Registrar Tracy Howard became a target for criticism last fall when he questioned the voter registration applications of Radford University students who listed their campus dormitories as their residences.

"There were so many groups that descended on my head ... when all I was asking was, "What is your domicile? What is your intent?' " Howard said.

Howard sent a form called a "pending denial" to students who listed Radford dorm addresses on their registration applications and asked them for a permanent address. The American Civil Liberties Union and other groups accused him of violating students' voting rights, but none of the denials were appealed to court.

Howard said he was adhering to a state law that requires voters to establish both a "place of abode" and "domicile" -- or intent to remain -- in the jurisdiction where they register.

"I still defend my actions, " Howard during Tuesday's meeting. "I think the contact was the only way for those individuals to know the law."

Howard, a member of the task force, and six other voter registration officials around the state have submitted recommendations to the panel. Among other things, the group proposed a rule stating that any student at a Virginia college "may register to vote either at the place where he resides while attending the institution or at the place where he is otherwise domiciled," but cannot have two voting residences.

Howard said the General Assembly could have put the issue to rest this year by passing legislation sponsored by Sen. Ralph Smith, R-Botetourt County, which would have put the rule into state law.

"That's all we're trying to get to the bottom of, which is whether that person's intent is to establish domicile in that particular locality," Howard said.

The registrars also proposed adding the following instructions to the voter registration forms: "Your residence consists of your primary home address and the place where you intend to remain. If you have two or more places that may qualify as a home for voting, you should use the address of your primary residence."

The registrars suggested that voting officials submit an annual report of new registrations to "taxing authorities" in their respective jurisdictions to determine whether local taxes should be assessed on the new voters.

Howard and other registrars in college communities told the task force Tuesday that their offices were overwhelmed by student applications last fall. They attributed the surge to campus registration drives by third-party groups that were active in the presidential election. Some students provided conflicting or incomplete address information, forcing understaffed registrars offices to either deny the applications or work longer hours to verify information.

State Board of Elections Chairwoman Jean Cunningham told the registrars that last year's presidential race "was the tsunami of elections and the burden on your office was tremendous."

Williamsburg Registrar Winifred Sowder said she spent many a late night calling students at the College of William and Mary who had problems with their forms, such as listing post office boxes rather than physical addresses on their applications.

But those extra efforts didn't shield registrars from criticism.

"It's very offensive, the raps we are taking for just trying to do our jobs," Sowder said. "We're made out to be these horrible people and we're not."