Movers and Students: Addressing Registration Challenges
JULY 2009
Movers and Students: Addressing Registration Challenges
As many as 11 million people may have failed to register to vote before the 2008 election because of registration deadlines and changes in residency shortly before Election Day. Two new studies explore strategies for addressing this problem, with one focusing on the unique challenges of the college population and another examining the concept of permanent registration.
Featured Resources
Exploring the ways in which technology can be better utilized to improve the accuracy of voter registration databases can provide valuable guidance. Researchers undertook a pilot project to determine the feasibility of using database matching to identify voters in Oregon and Washington.
The Committee to Modernize Voter Registration, composed of former state and federal lawmakers, state election administrators, election law experts, and academics was recently formed to advocate for an automated, transferable system to replace today's out-of-date and patchwork system.
The Indiana Election Division published its Outreach Library for the 2010 elections. Among the resources available for both voters and election officials are guides for military and overseas voters, voter identification requirement outlines, and a handbook for election officials.
Research Projects
Election Law @ Moritz, run through Moritz College of Law at the Ohio State University, contains both explanation and commentary on a wealth of election reform issues from a legal perspective.
The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law is a non-partisan public policy and law institute that focuses on fundamental issues of democracy and justice.
FairVote develops and promotes practical strategies to improve elections at the local, state and national levels.
Center for Democracy & Election Management was established at the School of Public Affairs at American University in 2002. Their broader goal is to pave the way for and strengthen democracy through improved electoral performance.
electionline.org provides daily news updates on election reform issues, as well as deeper analysis of selected topics, including recent reports on voter registration, recount procedures, and the progress in implementing the Help America Vote Act since 2002.
The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
www.aei.org
The Brookings Institution
www.brookings.edu
© Copyright 2010, AEI
and The Brookings Institution