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FEBRUARY 3, 2010 Partnering with Motor Vehicle Offices and Public Assistance Agencies |
Modernizing the process of voter registration requires coordination between election officials, motor vehicle offices, and public assistance agencies. Three states have already begun implementing their own modernization process, as highlighted by a Project Vote memo. Meanwhile, a survey conducted by Dēmoswith public assistance agencies in 40 states plus the District of Columbia probed the feasibility of using these agencies’ databases as the source for low-income citizens’ voter registration information. The results from these two studies demonstrate that upgrading the methods by which states collect and maintain voter registration rolls is not only less costly for the state but also easier than some might expect.
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Committee to Modernize Voter Registration
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law experts, and academics was recently formed to advocate for an automated, transferable system to replace today's out-of-date and patchwork system.
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Estelle H. Rogers, Esq., Project Vote
Focusing on the four major provisions of the National Voter Registration Act, Project Vote’s report reviews implementation of voter registration programs at the state level.
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Wendy R. Weiser, Adam Skaggs, Christopher Ponoroff & Lawrence Norden, The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law
For Ohio, with an outdated and inefficient registration process, modernizing its voter registration system is a priority.
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Rhode Island General Assembly
After three consecutive years’ of governor vetoes, the Rhode Island assembly succeeded in enacting into law a teen voter pre-registration bill. It joins Hawaii and Florida, as well as Puerto Rico, in permitting pre-registration for teenagers.
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R. Michael Alvarez (Caltech) & Jonathan Nagler (NYU), Demos
Alvarez and Nagler critique an analysis of data on voter registration at public assistance agencies. This research finds that results attributing the decline of voter registration to PRWORA are overstated.
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The Pew Center on the States
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.
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Project Vote is a national nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) that works to empower, educate, and mobilize low-income, minority, youth, and other marginalized and under-represented voters.
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Dēmos is a non-partisan public policy research and advocacy organization founded in 2000. A multi-issue national organization, Dēmoscombines research, policy development, and advocacy to influence public debates and catalyze change.
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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.
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NYU School of Law
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.
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