Voter Registration will be offered at MVD Offices following
settlement
of lawsuit by coalition of voting rights groups
ALBUQUERQUE, NM — Tens of thousands of New Mexico residents
who visit state motor vehicle offices will be able to register to vote or
update their voter registration information, thanks to a settlement agreement
reached last week in a lawsuit to bring the state’s Motor Vehicle Division into
compliance with the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) of 1993. The
agreement resolves a lawsuit brought against state officials by voting rights
groups Project Vote, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and Dēmos,
as well as by the law firms of Freedman Boyd Hollander Goldberg & Ives, DLA
Piper LLP (US), and Advocates for Justice and Reform Now, PC.
Filed in July 2009, the lawsuit charged that New Mexico was
failing to comply with the NVRA, a federal civil rights law that requires motor
vehicle offices and public assistance agencies to offer voter registration
services to their clients. Defendants named in the suit include New Mexico’s
Secretary of State, Mary Herrera, and officials from the New Mexico Motor Vehicle
Division (MVD), the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department, and the New
Mexico Human Services Department.
“The NVRA was enacted to ensure that all citizens have an
equal opportunity to register to vote,” said Nicole Kovite, director of the Public
Agency Voter Registration Project at Project Vote. “By ignoring this vital law,
New Mexico was denying this right to thousands of its residents every year.”
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of state residents Celia
Valdez, Graciela Grajeda, Shawna Allers, and Jesse Rodriguez, all of whom
applied for various licenses and benefits at these agencies but were not asked
if they wanted to register to vote or to update their voter registration
information, as required by the NVRA.
“We are pleased that New Mexico has joined with the
plaintiffs in developing a comprehensive agreement to assure full
implementation of the NVRA at motor vehicle offices,” said Robert Kengle,
co-director of the Lawyers’ Committee’s Voting Rights Project. “Thousands of
New Mexico residents now will have the opportunity to register to vote
simultaneously with applying for a driver’s license or a state identification
card.”
Evidence submitted by plaintiffs included the extremely low
numbers of registration applications submitted by state MVD offices—less than
3,000 total in 2007-2008—and the results of surveys and investigations that
found an astonishing 80% of MVD offices were violating the NVRA.
The settlement requires the Motor Vehicle Division to
implement a set of reforms to offer voter registration services to every
resident who applies for a driver’s license or state ID card. The MVD must update computer systems,
websites, training practices, monitoring, reporting, and other oversight details
to offer voter registration with the same degree of assistance as any other MVD
license, identification card, or renewal. The Secretary of State will designate
a State NVRA Coordinator to oversee statewide compliance, and a local NVRA
Coordinator will be assigned to every MVD office. Signs will be posted in MVD
offices to inform the public that voter registration services are available,
and the Secretary of State website and MVD websites will be updated to include
additional voter registration information.
“We are pleased that several years of hard work has resulted
in this favorable outcome for New Mexico’s citizens, who may now benefit from
the same access to voter registration services at motor vehicle offices that
citizens of other states have enjoyed for years,” stated Cindy Ricketts, a
Phoenix-based Litigation Partner of DLA Piper LLP (US), who has led that law
firm’s pro bono work on the matter since plaintiffs’ counsel began their
investigation in 2007.
Arthur Z. Schwartz, Executive Director of Advocates for
Justice and Reform Now, noted that “the lawsuit was originally brought on
behalf of ACORN, which served as a plaintiff until it shut down operations in
New Mexico earlier this year. This settlement, and the expanded voting rights
opportunities it creates, are part of its legacy.”
While the case related to MVD offices has been settled, the
suit also addresses the state’s failure to comply with another section of the
NVRA, which requires that public assistance agencies provide registration
services to their clients. In the 2007-2008 election, officials received less
than 1,500 registration applications from public assistance offices, despite
the fact that the average number of adult participants in the Food Stamp
program alone was over 103,000 per month in New Mexico. The case related to
these claims is still ongoing.
“We applaud New
Mexico’s MVD for this agreement, but it is equally important to ensure that
voter registration services are provided to citizens who may not visit motor
vehicle offices,” said Allegra Chapman, counsel for Dēmos. “All designated state agencies –
including public assistance offices serving low-income persons – should follow
MVD’s lead and ensure full compliance with the law.”
###
Contacts:
Nicole Kovite, Project Vote (202) 546-4173 ext. 303
Allegra Chapman, Dēmos, (212)
419-8772
Stacie Royster, Lawyers’ Committee, (202) 662-8317
Arthur Schwartz, Advocates for Justice and Reform Now, (917)
923-8136
Ashley Yahn, DLA Piper LLP, (312) 252-4112
David Urias, Freeman, Boyd, Hollander, Goldberg & Ives, (505) 842-9960