LD 203, sponsored by Republican Rep. Gary Knight of Livermore, seeks to prohibit college students “from away” from voting in Maine. In a recent op-ed in the Kennebec Journal, Knight said his intention is to “protect the vote of the legal residents of Maine.”

For that, we thank him. But his chosen enemy in the battle against voter fraud – college students – are a poor choice. Student demographics at Maine’s private colleges, such as Bates College, and public universities show the bill’s impact, even if enacted, is minimal.

Allowing college students from outside Maine to vote, or not vote, won’t create or rectify any great injustice. The numbers are just too small.

Let’s start in Orono.

The University of Maine’s Class of 2010 numbers 1,950 students, with 1,442 from Maine. It’s the largest number of Maine students ever to enroll in the university in one year, according to UMaine spokesman Joe Carr.

The class is 7 percent larger than the class of 2009, however, so out-of-state student numbers have also increased. For the class of 2010, 508 students are from outside Maine, a population that has been increasing.

In total, though, the university’s student body is overwhelmingly Mainer. Carr said 9,921 students from Maine – 84 percent – attend the university, versus 1,876 students from away.

At smaller institutions like Bates, the geographic demographics, as expected, are predominately out-of-state students, yet approximately 12 percent of recent Bates freshmen come from inside Maine. That’s about 50 out of an average incoming class of 450, according to the college. Bates’ total enrollment is 1,700.

About half of Bates freshmen hail from New England states, which hurts Knight’s argument as expressed in his op-ed. The legislator – a freshman himself – wrote, “Why should a student from New Jersey or New York have a voice in choosing our elected leaders?”

Student data shows this fear lacks foundation. There are more Maine students in Maine than from anywhere else. Their votes already count. And the large percentage of students from New England were raised in an environment as similiar as you can get to Maine without living here.

Which students do, for at least nine months of the year. And for many, living in Maine is their first chance to vote.

Is a student raised in New Hampshire or Massachusetts really unqualified to vote in Maine? They’re part-time residents, like so many other Mainers. Most college students spend more time in Maine than the snowbirds who fly south for six months each winter.

If they can vote in Maine, so should college students.

Observers have said Knight’s bill is doomed. They’re probably right, given LD 203’s questionable constitutionality; similiar laws to restrict college voting have been consistently overturned. Knight’s sentiment is appreciated, though, as protecting the voting rights of Mainers is a proper course.

Except in this case, because of one glaring fact about the critical mass of college voters the bill seeks to restrict.

It doesn’t exist.