STATEMENT OF AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES, 

DEMOS, L GUE OF

WOMEN VOTERS OF THE UNITED STATES, AND PROJECT VOTE 

AWYERS’ COMMITTEE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS UNDER LAW, LEA

SUBMITTED TO THE ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION 

AUGUST 18, 2010 

ORLANDO, FLORIDA 

The undersigned organizations submit the following comments in connection with 

the Election Assistance Commission’s (EAC) August 18, 2010 hearing.  We 

appreciate the agency’s willingness to receive testimony about its biennial report to 

Congress (stated at p. 14 of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking) and hope that our 

views will help to inform the judgment of the EAC as it considers issuing regulations 

or other guidance on the biennial report.  

All of our organizations are dedicated to improving the system of elections and 

promoting civic engagement by making voter registration more accessible to 

traditionally underserved communities, such as disabled and low income Americans 

and racial minorities.  In particular, we do a significant amount of work related to 

the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA).  Consequently, we rely on the 

Election Assistance Commission for its biennial NVRA report and the data on state 

compliance contained with it.  We have carefully read the EAC reports, and the FEC 

reports before them, and would like to share with you our observations and 

recommendations for fulfilling the Commission’s monitoring and reporting 

responsibility. 

The EAC’s report to Congress can and should be used as an opportunity to 

underscore the states’ obligation to implement the NVRA and to report on its impact 

on election administration. By these means, the efficacy of the NVRA may be 

evaluated continuously, based upon an accurate picture of the law’s implementation 

in the states, and compliance will be promoted.  We believe that the following 

recommendations regarding the biennial report would result in a more complete 

picture of NVRA implementation and would lead to improved state compliance: 

1. The EAC, within the biennial report, should include a detailed discussion of NVRA 

implementation and compliance problems encountered by states as a predicate to 

its responsibility to make “recommendations for improvements in Federal and State 

procedures, forms, and other matters.”  Such information is frequently supplied to 

the EAC by state and local election officials themselves, who contact the agency with 

questions or observations concerning the administration of elections.  A more 

comprehensive discussion of state compliance should also draw on survey data, as 

well as information from other sources, such as application form design, training 

manuals, and findings adduced in litigation or consent decrees.  

When the FEC produced the biennial report (prior to the report on the 2003‐2004 

election cycle), it consistently included such a discussion.  Often without naming the 
states involved (though doing so would have been helpful), the report described 

various problems, such as motor vehicle or Section 7 agencies not transmitting 

applications promptly, not using the proper forms, or failing to train their staff to 

help applicants to register.   Since the EAC assumed responsibility for the biennial 

report, it has not consistently included this type of analysis.   

We would also like to note our particular concern that the most recent report to 

Congress actually mischaracterized agency responsibilities with regard to NVRA 

compliance.  At page 9, for example, the report recommended that states “encourage 

their public service agencies to remind voters to check and update their registration 

information,” and that states “encourage” agencies to distribute voter registration 

forms, whereas the law requires these agencies to distribute voter registration forms 

and provide the public with assistance completing these forms.  Moreover, the law 

requires that agencies assist clients not just with updating their registrations but 

also with registering for the first time. This inaccuracy should be corrected in the 

next biennial report, if not sooner. 

2.  In order to facilitate the collection and reporting of accurate voter registration 

data, the EAC should provide states with increased direction and technical 

assistance regarding the collection of data required for the biennial report. In this 

regard, it has become clear over several reporting periods that there is a need for 

some states to take steps to improve significantly the accuracy of the data they 

collect and report regarding NVRA registration sources. Reporting the source of 

voter registration applications could be made much easier and more accurate if 

states used discreet source codes on the voter registration applications provided to 

agencies.  Some states already use such procedures or similar techniques, which do 

not violate privacy laws.  It should also be noted that there are a few states that, in 

recent reporting periods, have failed to report any data at all.  This fact should be 

noted prominently in the report. 

3. The EAC report should include a complete list of each state’s designated agencies 

and the department under which they fall, as has been done in some past reports. 

This will provide clarity as to which specific agencies the state views as falling 

ithin the requirements of Section 7 of the NVRA, and will allow users of the report 

te. 

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to better understand which additional agencies have been designated by the sta

4. Forthcoming reports should include a brief statement on the status of NVRA 

litigation, as well as court orders or consent decrees entered during the reporting 

period.    The information itself is clearly germane to an assessment of the impact of 

the NVRA on the administration of elections, and it is thus an appropriate part of the 

EAC’s report to Congress.  In addition, having a current summary of legal action all 

in one place would be useful for election officials. 

5.  The EAC should make a complete, systematic review of State practices with 

respect to “State procedures, form, and other matters,“ since the NVRA requires the 

biennial report to make “recommendations for improvements” in these areas.  The 
results of this review should be featured in the next report to Congress.  Our own 

reviews have found that many state forms simply do not conform to the mandates of 

the NVRA.  For example, the voter information (sometimes called “declination”) 

forms are frequently incorrectly worded, and occasionally not used at all. 

We appreciate the opportunity to submit this statement regarding the EAC’s 

biennial report to Congress and suggestions for improving it.  Please feel free to 

correspond with any of the undersigned organizations if you wish to further discuss 

our observations or recommendations.  We look forward to working with you to 

ake the EAC reports more useful and instructive to the public and to state and 

ocal election officials. 

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SIGNATORIES:           

The American Association of People with Disabilities is the country's largest 

membership organization of people with disabilities, founded by the visionaries 

who created the Americans with Disabilities Act. Our mission is to increase the 

political, economic and social power of the nation's largest minority. 

The Democracy Program at Dēmos, a non‐partisan public policy research and 

advocacy organization, undertakes litigation, advocacy, research and public 

education to advance a diverse and inclusive democracy reform movement across 

the U.S., focusing on reform efforts that will lower barriers to participation for 

populations that have historically been disfranchised from the political process.

The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is a nonpartisan, nonprofit 

organization whose principal mission is to secure, through the rule of law, equal 

justice under law.  The Voting Rights Project of the Lawyers’ Committee, with the 

assistance of private law firms, seeks to achieve equality and protect advances in 

voting rights for racial and ethnic minorities, as well as other traditionally 

disenfranchised groups, through an integrated program of litigation, voter 

protection, research, advocacy, and education. 

The League of Women Voters of the United States is a nonpartisan, community‐

based organization that promotes political responsibility by encouraging Americans 

to participate actively in government and the electoral process.  Founded in 1920 as 

an outgrowth of the struggle to win voting rights for women, the League now has 

more than 150,000 members and supporters, and is organized in more than 850 

communities and in every State. 

Project Vote is a national nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes voting 

in historically underrepresented communities. Through its research, advocacy, and 

direct legal services, Project Vote works to ensure that these constituencies are able 

to fully participate in American civic life by registering and voting.