A presidential poll shows Democrat Barack Obama has a solid lead over Republican John McCain in the presidential race in Virginia.

A CNN/Time poll shows 44 percent of voters supporting McCain and 53 percent backing Obama. The poll is based on phone surveys of 648 people.

It's the first time a phone survey has shown either candidate with a clear lead in Virginia and a large source of support for Obama throughout his campaign has been young people.

So some local college students are recognizing the tight race in this state and are switching their registration so they can cast a ballot in Virginia instead of in their home states.

Stephen McGinley, a junior at James Madison University, is an Obama supporter from New Jersey. He signed up Thursday to cast his ballot in Virginia.

"I may be able to help add an extra vote for Obama just because I feel he's the right choice for president, the right choice to bring about change," says McGinley.

Caitlin Jones is a freshman from Connecticut, which is also a state leaning towards Obama, but she switched her registration a week ago to support McCain in Virginia.

"My vote won't have as big of an influence in Connecticut as it will in Virginia," says Jones. "This is my first election that I will be voting in. I really want my vote to really matter, and it will in Virginia."

Dave Ebner is a campus organizer with the non-partisan group Progressive Future. The group is trying to register an additional 500,000 young people to vote nationwide.

"It's really important that you just get out there and vote in this state because it's the place where your vote is going to make the biggest impact," says Ebner.

Of course, students aren't just voting for president on November 4. JMU political analyst Dr. Bob Roberts says it's unclear how the large turnout among young people could impact local elections.

"They may look at party identification, and they could figure out who's a Democrat and who's a Republican and vote for the Democrats," says Roberts. "So, if you get large numbers of young voters, they could theoretically impact the city council race."

According to state election officials, more than 280,000 additional people have registered to vote in Virginia this year, the vast majority of whom is under the age of 35.

The deadline to register to vote in Virginia is Monday.