Did they register to vote before they headed off to college?

The Class of 2008 is by and large scattered hither and yon by now. Graduates of Geneva High School are attending school in Massachusetts, New York, Wisconsin, Illinois (naturally), Indiana, Colorado and many of our other 50 states.

But before they left home, did they register to vote first?

After all, the presidential election is less than two months away.

"The best thing they can do is get in and register now," said Jay Bennett, chief deputy clerk for the Kane County Clerk's office. "Don't wait.

"Every four years there's more interest because of the presidential race. You have a push by both parties for younger voters; you have all kinds of organizations trying to stimulate voter registration," Bennett said.

The last day to register to vote before the Nov. 4 election is one month from today: Oct. 7. However, people may take advantage of "grace period registration," done only in the clerk's office from Oct. 8 through Oct. 21. Those who register to vote during the grace period and who want to vote in the upcoming election must vote at the time of registration.

A friend of mine mentioned recently that her son was told that his first foray into casting a ballot had to be done in person. He was able to do just that because he was in town for the special 14th District congressional election, held on a Saturday last March. Casting a ballot in person is a bit more difficult if the election is on a Tuesday, and that newly-minted voter is attending class three states away.

It turns out that scenario isn't written in stone. In many cases, the ability to cast an absentee ballot depends on how the registration was handled.

Bennett said that even those who register via mail can still vote absentee. To do so, however, the person must complete the optional step of providing copies of two acceptable forms of identification with the mail-in registration form. According to the county's voter registration Web page, providing the forms of ID will permit the new voter to vote by mail the first time he or she votes. If you don't, then you will have to provide the information to election officials the first time you vote at a polling place or by in-person absentee ballot.

Bennett noted there are all kinds of methods available to register. "Hopefully, most seniors in high school registered at their high school," he said.

At high school? Really?

Yes indeed.

Nancy Lindenmuth, registrar extraordinaire at Geneva High School, estimated she registered probably 40 students last spring, many of them arriving at her office from their government class.

"I get a big influx every four years, when it's a presidential election," she said.

This presidential election has generated a lot of interest, and that was borne out by big registration numbers, she said.

Other people, naturally, can also register at the high school as well, though Lindenmuth stressed that members of the general public should come after 3:15 p.m., to avoid conflict with the school day.

County property tax bills were due last Tuesday. With the large numbers of people heading to county offices to pay their bills, Kane County Clerk Jack Cunningham had deputy registrars on the scene to permit them to register to vote at the same time.

"Most municipal offices have deputy registrars, too," Bennett said.

And both the St. Charles and Batavia libraries offer voter registration. Geneva's library does not.

Information - including registration site options, acceptable forms of identification, and key dates - is available at www.kanecountyelections.org/VoterRegistration/registration.asp.

The presidential election is less than two months away.

Will your college student be able to cast a vote?

Will you?

The clock is ticking.