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 As part of Project Vote's ongoing effort to keep you informed about the
changing landscape of election legislation, we are pleased to provide
the first installment this year in our ongoing Election Legislation Threats and Opportunities series.
With the 2012 election looming large, there has been a flurry of interest in reshaping election administration across the country. Consequently, many of these efforts are rooted in partisan politics rather than designed to make substantial improvements to the system. Voter ID, restrictions on voter registration drives, and even the revocation of existing progressive election policies are all being dramatically fought out on the state level.
Project Vote Communications Manager Erin Ferns Lee has
been carefully monitoring election legislation in all 50 states. This memo assesses both the threats and opportunities represented by election reforms that have gained significant support in state legislatures so far in 2011, based on discussions with state-based advocates, recent media coverage, and the partisan makeup of the legislatures and state election directors.
You can download this new memo here. |
WASHINGTON, DC, January 31, 2012. – In a strongly worded order handed down yesterday, U.S. District Judge Charles A. Pannell, Jr. denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a coalition of voting rights groups to remedy the State of Georgia’s failure to provide voter registration services at public assistance offices, as required by Section 7 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA).
Judge Pannell ruled that, contrary to the state’s practice, the NVRA requires that public assistance agency clients be provided with the opportunity to receive a voter registration application every time they apply for or renew benefits or submit a change of address. This must include instances where clients interact with the agency by remote means (e.g., by telephone, internet or mail). In addition, Judge Pannell found that, to the extent that Georgia’s public assistance agencies do not presumptively distribute voter registration applications (and, instead, require clients to request them affirmatively), that the State is likely violating the NVRA.
Section 7 of the NVRA requires that all public assistance offices in Georgia distribute a voter registration application each time a client applies for benefits, recertifies, or fills out a change of address form, unless the client declines an application in writing. The lawsuit alleges that Georgia has been largely ignoring this mandate for many years.
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Project Vote is currently in the process of moving our offices in Washington, DC. During this move, our main phone and fax lines will be down, and there may be delays in receiving mail. If you need to reach Project Vote staff, you can send them an email by clicking their names on the "Our Staff" page of this website, or they can be reached on their cell phones.
For general inquiries or emergencies, please contact Daniel Charlton, Operations Manager, at 703.606-8708 or
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Our new address will be 1350 Eye Street NW, Suite 1250, Washington, DC 20005. We expect to be fully moved in, with services restored, early in the week of January 9. In the meantime, we apologize for any inconvenience. |
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National
and Local Groups Put Secretary of State Galvin on Notice of Voting Rights
Violations
December 9, 2011
BOSTON- Citing clear evidence that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is
failing to provide low-income residents with a legally-mandated opportunity to
register to vote, attorneys from Demos, Project Vote, and the Lawyers'
Committee for Civil Rights Under Law of the Boston Bar Association sent a pre-litigation
notice letter on December 8, 2011 to Secretary of State William F. Galvin, on
behalf of New England United for Justice.
The letter was also forwarded to the state’s human services
officials. The letter demands that
the secretary immediately act to bring Massachusetts into compliance with the
National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) or face litigation.
Section 7 of the NVRA requires state public assistance agencies, which provide
services such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP),
Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), Medicaid, and the Special
Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), to provide voter registration services to
their clients. In the first two years after the NVRA became effective in Massachusetts
in 1995, the State registered almost 27,000 people through public assistance
agencies.
However, according to evidence cited in the notice
letter, the majority of clients seeking these services are no longer being
offered voter registration opportunities. For example, in 2009-2010, Massachusetts
received only 2007 voter registration applications at public assistance
agencies, a 92.6% drop from the peak at the time of the NVRA’s implementation. Significantly and contrary to the norm,
a lower percentage of low-income Massachusetts residents were registered to
vote in 2008, a presidential year,
than in other years. In fact,
among all states, Massachusetts had the sixth lowest turnout rate
among its low-income citizens that year.
Field investigations have found
that public assistance clients around the state are not being provided with
voter registration applications, contrary to the requirements of the NVRA.
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