Low-Income Americans Denied Voter Registration Opportunities as States Neglect
Federal Voting Law, New Report Shows
Voting Rights Groups Project Vote and Demos Send Intent to Sue Notices to
Arizona and Florida for Non-Compliance with National Voter Registration Act
WASHINGTON, Feb. 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As the nation prepares for the
2008 election, a new study reveals that many states are routinely failing to
offer low-income Americans an opportunity to register to vote as required by
the federal National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). Unequal Access: Neglecting
the National Voter Registration Act, 1995-2007, published this week by the
non-partisan voting rights groups Demos and Project Vote, shows that 12 years
after the NVRA's requirements went into effect, voter registrations from
public agencies that provide services to low-income Americans have declined
dramatically.
Unequal Access: Neglecting the National Voter Registration Act, 1995-2007
examines voter registration data state by state, finding that in states across
the nation--Virginia, Florida, Texas, Nevada and many others--public
assistance agencies are neglecting to offer voter registration to all clients
and applicants, as required by the law. Because of noncompliance with the
NVRA, the rights of thousands of low-income citizens are violated daily.
"All Americans should have an opportunity to register and vote, but states are
ignoring a federal law that requires them to offer voter registration to
low-income citizens. In 2006, more than twice as many low-income Americans
were unregistered as upper-income Americans. States need to follow the law. If
they do, we can close the registration gap between rich and poor," says
Unequal Access: Neglecting the National Voter Registration Act, 1995-2007
co-author Douglas R. Hess. "Our democracy works best when everyone, not just
some, are allowed to participate."
Unequal Access: Neglecting the National Voter Registration Act, 1995-2007's
findings underscore widespread state failures in enforcing the NVRA,
including:
-- Registrations from public assistance agencies have declined 79 percent
between 1995, when the Act was first implemented in, and 2006; in other words,
registrations declined from 2.6 million to just 540,000 by the 2005-2006
reporting period.
-- Field investigations and analysis of available data strongly suggest that
low registration rates are a result of states' noncompliance with the law.
-- The decline in registrations from public assistance agencies occurred
despite the fact that millions of citizens from low-income households remain
unregistered. In 2006, 13 million (40 percent) of voting-age citizens from
households earning under $25,000 were unregistered.
-- The U.S. Department of Justice has failed in recent years to actively
enforce the public assistance provisions of the NVRA. This is despite being
provided with evidence of noncompliance by Project Vote, Demos, Congressional
leaders and others.
The NVRA was enacted in 1993 with the goal of increasing the number of
eligible citizens registered to vote. The law requires states to offer
citizens an opportunity to register to vote when they apply for or renew their
driver's license ("motor voter") and when citizens apply for public assistance
benefits such as Food Stamps or Medicaid. The latter provision was designed to
reduce disparities in the voting population based on race and income.
"When public assistance agencies offer voter registration as the law requires,
their clients register to vote," says Unequal Access: Neglecting the National
Voter Registration Act, 1995-2007 co-author Scott Novakowski. "States like
North Carolina and Iowa have recently improved their agency registration
procedures, resulting in dramatic increases in the number of low-income
citizens registering to vote. If all states were to fully comply with the
law, thousands of eligible low-income voters could be drawn into the
democratic process every day."
In conjunction with the publication of Unequal Access: Neglecting the National
Voter Registration Act, 1995-2007, Project Vote and Demos has sent notices to
Arizona and Florida for non-compliance with NVRA. Such notices are required
before initiating litigation.
For more information about the National Voter Registration Act and to download
a copy of Unequal Access, visit http://www.projectvote.org or
http://www.demos.org.
SOURCE Project Vote
Sarah Massey of Project Vote, +1-202-445-1169, sarah@massey-media.com; or
Timothy K. Rusch of Demos, +1-212-633-1405, ext. 407, trusch@demos.org
