Source: https://www.demos.org/research/registering-millions-success-and-potential-national-voter-registration-act-20
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 20:19:22+00:00

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The key provisions of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) that have allowed millions to register.
For our democracy to thrive, the freedom to vote must be fiercely protected for all citizens, regardless of class or privilege. The right to vote provides the foundation that makes all other rights possible.1Yet, much work needs to be done to be sure our election system works for all Americans. This is particularly true when it comes to ensuring that the voter registration process is widely accessible and easy to navigate. Historically, and still to this date, lower-income Americans are much less likely to be registered to vote compared to their more affluent counterparts, which in turn leads to voter turnout rates that skew our electorate and undermine representative democracy.
In order to vote, eligible citizens must first register—a step in the political process that has historically been difficult to navigate and subject to onerous burdens designed to exclude citizens of color and lower-income citizens from easily casting a ballot.
In fact, the United States is one of only a few democracies that places the responsibility of registering primarily on each individual voter, rather than making government accountable for ensuring that eligible persons are registered.2"" Not surprisingly, obstacles to registration result in fewer people who are registered to vote. Disparities in voter registration rates directly result in disparities in who votes in any given election, leaving many voices unheard.
Since its adoption twenty years ago, the NVRA has successfully registered millions of eligible voters and led to important increases in voter registration among lower-income Americans. This brief highlights the key provisions in the act that were designed to expand voter registration opportunities, describes its impact on voter registration rates, and provides recommendations to ensure the act continues to expand voter registration opportunities for millions of Americans.
states to accept mail-in registration forms.
Under Section 5 of the NVRA, eligible citizens can register to vote when they apply for a driver’s license. Any change of address submitted to the state motor vehicle office is also forwarded to election authorities, automatically updating the eligible voter’s registration.
Section 6 of the NVRA helped ease voter registration by requiring that states accept a standardized federal mail-in application as a means of registering to vote. Instead of having to submit an application in person at a registrar’s office, eligible voters can use the federal mail-in form or a state mail-in form that meets the same requirements as the federal form. This provision is particularly helpful to eligible voters that cannot make a visit to a registrar’s office during normal business hours, and it greatly facilitates voter registration drives.
Section 7 expands voter registration access by requiring any office that provides public assistance, as well as state-funded programs primarily engaged in providing services to persons with disabilities, to also provide voter registration services.8 Beyond just providing registration forms, Section 7 requires that applicants receive the same level of assistance when completing voter registration forms as is provided with completing the agencies’ own forms, and requires agencies to transmit completed registration applications to the appropriate election official.
Together, these three provisions in the NVRA have assisted millions of eligible Americans to register to vote and have started to narrow the voter registration gap, with improvements in the percentage of lower-income citizens who are registered to vote.
Some states had even more extreme barriers to voter registration. Mississippi, for example, had a dual registration system that required eligible voters to register separately for state and municipal elections up until 1987.11 Mississippi also left it to the discretion of each individual county clerk whether to allow registration books to be removed from the county clerk’s office to conduct voter registration. As a result, many counties had no satellite sites where eligible voters could register.12 This restriction left many eligible voters no option except to go to the county clerk’s office, regardless of how far it was and how restrictive the office hours were.
Very often, voter registration also required filling out a complicated form and proof of identity and residence.13 Residency requirements varied widely from one day to two months14 and as quoted in Richard Wolfinger and Steven J. Rosenstone’s book, Who Votes?
While overall registration rates declined, voter registration among the lowest income quintile declined markedly. The table below shows that from 1972 to 1992, voter registration among the lowest income quintile saw a nearly 18 point percentage drop – from 61.2 percent in 1972 to 43.5 percent in 1992. In contrast, the highest income quintile consistently had voter registration rates near or over 80 percent during the same period.
Prior to the NVRA, a lack of uniform voter registration availability across the states, low overall registration rates, and significant gaps in registration rates for various demographic subgroups meant there was a desperate need for reform at the national level.
In its first year of implementation, as the table below shows, over 30.6 million people submitted voter registration applications or updated their registrations through methods made possible by the NVRA, either through offices including motor vehicle, public assistance, disability or armed forces recruiting offices, or by mailing in their voter application.
Year after year, the NVRA helps millions of eligible voters register. In particular, the NVRA has helped bring millions of low-income voters into the political process. In 1996, the first presidential election after the implementation of NVRA, voter registration among the lowest income quintile increased significantly, as shown in the graph below.
However, while the potential for increasing registration among low-income populations was great, the full promise of the NVRA was hampered by lackluster compliance and implementation. In particular, compliance with the NVRA’s requirements for registration through state public assistance and disability offices was poor after 1995.
After the initial surge of applications at public assistance offices, federal data show that the number of voter registration applications from public assistance agencies dropped by 79 percent between 1995-1996 and 2005-2006.24 Field investigations by Demos and its partners, along with evidence produced during litigation, revealed widespread noncompliance with Section 7 throughout the country.25 The lack of oversight and enforcement of Section 7 may have contributed to registration rates among the lowest income quintile remaining below 50 percent through the 2004 election.
Since 2004, Demos and its partners have used a combination of litigation and cooperative efforts to increase enforcement of Section 7. And, as detailed in the pull-out page, these efforts have been successful.
As shown earlier in Table 2, millions of individuals have registered to vote at public assistance offices since the NVRA’s enactment. The increase in voter registration among the lowest income quintile in recent years – reaching 52.7 in 2012, compared to only 43.5 percent in 1992- is encouraging. By providing voter registration through government agencies that serve low-income eligible voters, the NVRA is clearly helping make voter registration less cumbersome and more accessible.
For the past several years, Demos and its partners have been working with state officials to properly implement Section 7 of the NVRA after finding that many states neglected their obligation to provide voter registration services to applicants and recipients of public assistance benefits. Since 2007, Demos’ work, which has included both litigation and cooperative work with state officials, has helped 1,820,633 eligible voters apply to register to vote at public assistance agencies. In the chart below, the first column is the number of voters projected to apply for voter registration at public assistance offices, had there been no intervention to increase enforcement of Section 7 requirements. The second column is the number of eligible voters that actually applied to register after Demos and its partners took action. The last column shows the net impact that enforcement of Section 7 has had in terms of increasing voter registration applications through public assistance offices.
Demos’ work is proof that when laws to protect peoples’ democratic rights are put into practice, they can have a major impact on bringing more voices into the political process. If more states follow suit, millions of additional lower-income Americans will have the opportunity to participate in our democracy in coming years.
Undoubtedly, the NVRA has successfully registered millions of eligible voters. Yet, there is still work to be done. Voter registration rates are not as high as they could be, particularly among our lowest income citizens. Expanding the number of public agencies that offer voter registration services is a simple and necessary first step to engaging more eligible low-income voters. Ensuring proper implementation and enforcement of the NVRA is another necessary step towards fulfilling the true potential of the Act. Finally, despite the efforts of the NVRA, registration obstacles still exist and our voting systems need to be modernized in several ways.
Indian Health Services: Nearly two out of five American Indians and Alaska Natives who are eligible to voter are not registered.26 Designating Indian Health Service (IHS) facilities as voter registration agencies would help ease barriers to registrations and could reach more than 1.9 million American Indians and Alaska Natives.
United States Citizenship and Immigrant Services: Naturalized Americans vote at rates significantly below native-born Americans.27 The voter participation gap between the two communities is parallel to the voter registration gap. For naturalized citizens who are registered to vote, turnout rates are comparable, or even higher, than registered native born citizens.28 Therefore, making voter registration more accessible is the key to increasing participation of naturalized citizens. Designating the United States Citizenship and Immigrant Services as a full voter registration agency would offer new Americans the opportunity to register to vote at all administrative naturalization ceremonies.
Appoint a State-Level NVRA Coordinator for Each Agency and Local Coordinators for Each Local Office—A state-level coordinator is needed to ensure that someone “owns” NVRA compliance and can ensure that voter registration services are in fact provided by frontline workers. A local NVRA Coordinator is needed in each local agency office to be accountable for ensuring administration of the NVRA in any particular office.
Review Procedures to Ensure Voter Registration Policies and Procedures Are in Compliance with the NVRA—Many states may not have systematically reviewed their policies and procedures since 1995 when the NVRA first went into effect. Bringing these policies and procedures up to date is crucial to effective compliance.
Regular Training and Easy Availability of Voter Registration Policies and Procedures to Front Line Agency Employees—Agencies (in conjunction with elections officials) should create standardized training materials, which should be reviewed on a regular basis to ensure they are accurate and up-to-date. All newly hired employees should be trained on voter registration procedures and current employees should receive refresher training at least annually, although some states’ implementing legislation requires training to be conducted more frequently.
Adequate Supply of Voter Registration Applications and Voter Preference Forms for Each Office—Each public assistance office should ensure that it has at least a two-month supply of each form on hand (voter registration applications, voter preference forms, and any other state-specific forms).
Use of Technology to Integrate Voter Registration Services into Covered Transactions—Computer technology comes into play in and streamlines many aspects of implementation of Section 7 at public assistance offices. Technology can be used in training programs. Computer-guided systems can guide interactions between frontline workers and clients during covered transactions. Such systems can easily collect voter registration related data. Importantly, as more benefits transactions are conducted online and through Internet-based systems, voter registration services must also be provided online.
Implementation of a Comprehensive Oversight Program—Monitoring each office’s performance through frequent reporting of the numbers of voter registration applications and voter preference forms completed at each office helps to assess whether the procedures being implemented are effective and allows offices with low performance to be identified for remedial action.
While the need for the NVRA was clear, the act had to survive several legal challenges after it was first implemented. When it first passed, several states fought aggressively against implementation. California, Illinois, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, New York, South Carolina, and Virginia all refused to implement the NVRA or lagged in meeting the law’s full requirements, resulting in court actions where the validity or scope of the law was challenged.32 The federal courts uniformly upheld the NVRA and ruled that it was well within Congress’ power to improve citizens’ access to participation in federal elections.
Each generation has the responsibility to meet new challenges to ensure that all eligible persons can exercise the freedom to vote. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed discriminatory voting practices that had historically been used to disenfranchise African-American and other marginalized voters.34 In 1993, Congress passed the NVRA. Now, the time has come for the next generation of voting reforms. The following reforms would ease access to registration, save time and money, and bring millions of eligible voters into the political system.
Making Registration Permanent and Portable: Almost 36.5 million US residents moved between 2011 and 2012. Low-income individuals are twice as likely to move as those above the poverty line. Voter registration should become portable and permanent for persons who move within a start through automatic updates to registration records as citizens change their address.
In the 20 years since the NVRA passed, voter registration has become more accessible. Newly registered voters do not remember a time when voter registration was not available through an array of government offices, as well as by mail. Despite attacks and challenges, the NVRA has successfully registered millions of eligible voters since its enactment 20 years ago. We must continue to protect and expand the freedom to vote. Looking forward, modernizing and expanding the NVRA, along with other voter registration reforms, will help eliminate registration gaps between communities and bring more voices into our political process. In doing so, our democracy will be stronger and more vibrant.
The NVRA facilitated voter registration in three key ways: 1) by requiring state motor vehicles to offer voter registration; 2) by requiring public assistance and disability offices to offer voter registration; and 3) by requiring states to accept mail-in registration forms, including a uniform federal mail-in form.
Public assistance offices include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly the Food-Stamp Program), the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program (formerly the Aid to Families with Dependent Children or AFDC program), the Medicaid program, and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).48 It also includes state public assistance programs.
Disability services offices include, but are not limited to, offices providing vocational rehabilitation, transportation, job training, education counseling, rehabilitation, or independent-living services for persons with disabilities.
transmit each completed application to the appropriate state election official within a set time frame.
The opportunity to register to vote must be given to people when applying for the agency’s assistance or services, seeking recertification or renewal of said services, and recording a change of address for the assistance or service.
1. Frances Fox Piven and Richard A. Cloward, Why Americans Still Don’t Vote, (2000), at 2.
2"". Tova Andrea Wang, The Politics of Voter Suppression (2012), at 60.
3. Spencer Overton, Stealing Democracy (2006), at 94-95.
5. See supra note 2, at 63.
6. FEC Guide to Implementing the NVRA, Federal Election Commission Office of Election Administration (Jan. 1, 1994), available at http://www.eac.gov/assets/1/Page/Implementing%20the%20NVRA%20of%201993%20Requirements%20Issues%20Approaches%20and%20Examples%20Jan%201%201994.pdf, p. B-2.
8. Civil Rights Division NVRA FAQs, United States Dept. of Justice, Civil Rights Division, available at http://www.justice.gov crt/about/vot/nvra/nvra_faq.php. In addition to these “mandatory” agencies that states must designate to provide voter registration services, each state must also designate additional agencies, such as public libraries, unemployment offices, universities, or others, to provide voter registration services.
9. Jimmy Carter and Gerald Rudolph Ford, To Assure Pride and Confidence in the Electoral System, (2002), at 134.
10. See supra note 1, at 192.
12. Mississippi State Chapter, Operation PUSH v. Allain, 674 F.Supp. 1245, 1276 (N.D. Miss. 1987), aff’d, 932 F.2d 400 (5th Cir. 1991).
13. See supra note 9, at 134.
14. Raymond Wolfinger and Steven J. Rosenstone, Who Votes? (1980), at 61.
16. See supra note 1, at 193.
19. See id., at 172-173.
20. See U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, November 2008 and earlier reports.
21. U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2008, available at http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/socdemo/voting/publications/p20/2008/tables.html. Analysis by Demos.
24. Douglas R. Hess and Scott Novakowski, Unequal Access: Neglecting the National Voter Registration Act, 1995-2007, Demos, (Feb. 2008), available at http://www.demos.org/sites/default/files/publications/UnequalAccessReport-web%282%29.pdf.
26. Tova Wang, Ensuring Access to the Ballot for American Indians and Alaska Natives: New Solutions to Strenghten American Democracy, Dēmos (June 2012) , available at http://www.demos.org/sites/default/files/publications/IHS%20Report-Demos.pdf.
27. Tova Andrea Wang and Youjin B. Kim, From Citizenship to Voting: Improving Registration for New Americans, Demos (Dec. 19, 2011), available at http://www.demos.org/publication/citizenship-voting-improving-registration-new-americans.
29. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), Pub. L. 111-148, 124 Stat. 119 (Mar. 23, 2010).
30. Lisa J. Danetz, Building a Healthy Democracy: Registering 68 Million People through Health Benefit Exchanges, Demos (April 2013).
31. Lisa Danetz, Increasing Compliance with Section 7 of the NVRA, testimony before the United States Commission on Civil Rights (Apr. 19, 2013), available at http://www.demos.org/publication/testimony-increasing-compliance-section-7-nvra.
32. See, e.g., Wilson v. U.S., 878 F. Supp. 1324 (N.D. Cal. 1995) (California); ACORN v. Edgar, 56 F. 3d 791 (7th Cir. 1995) (Illinois); ACORN v. Miller, 912 F. Supp. 976 (W.D. Mich. 1995), affd., 129 F.3d 833 (6th Cir. 1997) (Michigan); Young v. Fordice, 520 U.S. 273 (1997) (Mississippi); ACORN v. Ridge, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3933 (E.D. Penn. 1995) (Pennsylvania); United States v. New York, 3 F. Supp. 2d 298 (E.D.N.Y. 1998), affd. in part, rev’d in part sub nom., Disabled in Action of Metropolitan New York v. Hammons, 202 F.3d 110 (2d Cir. 2000) (New York); Condon v. Reno, 913 F. Supp. 946 (D.S.C. 1995) (South Carolina); Natl. Coalition v. Gilmore, 152 F.3d 283 (4th Cir. 1998) (Virginia).
33. Amicus Brief, Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, available at http://www.demos.org/publication/amicus-brief-arizona-v-inter-tribal-council-arizona.
34. The Voting Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 1973–1973aa-6.
35. Beyond Motor Voter: Innovative NVRA Compliance for Public Assistance Agencies, Center for State Innovation (Feb.2011), available at http://www.stateinnovation.org/Publications/All-Publications/CSI-BeyondMotorVoter.aspx.
36. Steven Rosenfeld, Voter Registration Modernization and the NVRA, Project Vote (July 2010), available at http://projectvote.org/images/publications/Policy%20Reports%20and%20Guides/Voter-Registration-Modernization-and-the-NVRA.pdf.
38. What Is Same Day Registration? Where Is It Available?, Dēmos (March 1, 2013), available at http://www.demos.org publication/what-same-day-registration-where-it-available.
39. Demos Applauds Gov. O'Malley For New Maryland Same Day Registration Law, Dēmos (May 2, 2013), available at http://www.demos.org/press-release/demos-applauds-gov-omalley-new-maryland-same-day-registration-law; Don Rush, Same Day Voter Registration Bill Introduced in Delaware, Delmarva Public Radio (May 1, 2013), available at http://publicradiodelmarva.net/post/same-day-voter-registration-bill-introduced-delaware; Kurtis Lee, Bill to allow Election Day registration in Colorado gets initial OK, Denver Post (Apr. 18, 2013), available at http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_23052919/colorado-elections-bill-that-would-allow-same-day.
40. See supra note 38.
42. 42 U.S.C.A. § 1973gg-3.
44. 42 U.S.C.A. § 1973gg-4.
45. Register To Vote In Your State By Using This Postcard Form and Guide, United States Election Assistance Commission (March 1, 2006), available at: http://www.eac.gov/assets/1/Documents/national%20mail%20voter%20registration%20form%20english%20February%2015%2020111.pdf.
46. 42 U.S.C.A. § 1973gg-5.
48. See id; Civil Rights Division NVRA FAQs, supra note 8.
49. Id.; see also 42 U.S.C.A. § 1973gg-5.

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