Thousands of Virginia Tech students who signed up to vote at their school were told by The Local registrar the move could negatively affect their scholarships, insurance and tax status, The New York Times (NYSE:NYT) reported Monday.

After questions from civil rights attorneys, the state board of elections said it was "modifying and clarifying" the state guidelines the county registrar based his warnings on.

The newspaper says student registration controversies have been a recurring problem since 1971 when the 26th Amendment lowered the voting age from 21 to 18.

A 1979 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court gave students the right to register to vote at their college address.

The Virginia Tech voter registration drive was conducted by supporters of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.