Section 7 of the National Voter Registration Act
Though most people know the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) as the “motor voter” law, fewer people know that it also mandates that voter registration be offered at other government agencies besides DMVs. State agencies offering SNAP (food stamps), TANF, Medicaid, and other government benefits are also legally required to assist their clients in registering to vote under the NVRA.
Congress included this provision, Section 7, exactly to reach the citizens who are less likely to register through other means: low-income people, minorities, the elderly, and the disabled.
However, too many states have been ignoring this part of the NVRA, meaning that millions of our most vulnerable citizens are missing out on the change to make their voices heard. That’s why Project Vote and our partners are working to fix that. We investigate compliance. We document violations of the NVRA. And, where we find problems, we work—through advocacy, assistance, and litigation—to ensure that states are following the law and doing right by their citizens.
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La. sued for disenfranchising minority and low-income voters
Louisiana is being sued for alleged non-compliance with the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Inc. (LDF), Project Vote, and several private persons. Read more
Federal judge approves NM voting rights settlement
A federal judge has approved a consent order aimed at ensuring New Mexicans have a chance to register to vote at public assistance offices. Read more
Civil rights group: La. violating voting law
Louisiana departments aren't complying with a federal law that requires public assistance agencies that serve low-income residents to offer them voter registration, a civil rights group said Wednesday. Read more
Agency violates voter registration law
A federal judge has ruled New Mexico's Human Services Department is violating the National Voter Registration Act by not offering a voter registration application with every application for public assistance benefits. Read more
Judge sides with low-income voters:State must hand out forms regardless of whether person requests them
New Mexico must make voter registration easier for thousands of individuals seeking low-income health care benefits, a federal judge said Tuesday. Read more
Fight Tea Party Voters with Fresh Voters
Project Vote, Demos, The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and the local civil rights groups who sued these states and won (forcing turnarounds at state public assistance agencies) have been waging a lonely fight to implement the National Voter Registration Act. Read more
More Richland County low-income residents registering to vote
Job and Family Services offices in Ohio were taken to task in a 2006 lawsuit contending they failed to go far enough to register low-income voters, but voter registration at those locations skyrocketed after a court settlement went into effect in January. Read more
A Welfare Check and a Voting Card
After years of deliberate neglect, the Justice Department is finally beginning to enforce the federal law requiring states to provide voter registration at welfare and food stamp offices. Read more
Voter registration surge reported: Agencies were ordered to help low-income applicants
Ten times as many poor people are filling out voter registration applications at public assistance offices in Ohio now than had been doing so before a voting rights advocacy group won a legal settlement. Read more
Low-Income Ohio Voters Registering In Droves: Registration Now Permitted At Public Assistance Offices
Voter right advocates said more than 100,000 low-income Ohio residents have applied to register to vote at public-assistance offices in the months after a federal court settlement on the issue. Read more