Source: Census Bureau Current Population Surveys
Defending Against Attacks to Voter Registration
Diluting the National Voter Registration Act
The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) is a federal law designed to reduce barriers to voter registration. The NVRA governs elements of voter registration in the United States and requires, among other provisions, that certain government agencies—including Departments of Motor Vehicles (DMVs), public assistance agencies, and disability services offices—affirmatively provide voter registration services.
Government Agency Voter Registration
The NVRA requires that DMVs register driver license holders simultaneously and without requiring duplicative information in their DMV and voter registration applications when individuals apply for, renew, or submit a change of address for their driver’s license. For those individuals who do not occasion DMVs, specifically the low-income or disability community, the NVRA requires that public assistance agencies and disability offices provide voter registration each time an individual applies for, renews, or submits a change of address in conjunction with their benefits.
Despite the clear requirements of the NVRA, states often seek to circumvent their voter registration obligations by failing to consistently provide voter registration or limiting voter registration during in-person transactions, even as interactions with government agencies increasingly take place online. A lawsuit in Georgia forced the state’s public assistance agencies to provide voter registration during online transactions. Moreover, there is a pending lawsuit in Texas challenging the DMV’s refusal to provide voter registration during online change of address transactions.
Third-Party Voter Registration Drives
The NVRA also provides for a federal, mail-in voter registration form that is uniform across the country and which is available in 14 languages. This facilitates third parties or community organizations in conducting voter registration drives. These community-based voter registration drives often assist traditionally under-represented segments of our electorate, including those who are limited-English proficient (LEP) and communities of color, usually in a nonpartisan manner.
Despite the clear mandate of the NVRA, there have been attacks on third-party voter registration drives. For example, states restrict and burden voter registration drives by requiring those conducting voter registration, most of whom are volunteers, to be designated as a “deputy voter registrar.” In order to do so, states add additional requirements such as residency requirements and quotas on how many individuals from a single organization can become deputy voter registrars. In addition to these administrative burdens, states further increase the burdens on third-party voter registration drives by requiring submission of complete voter registrations in person (rather than mail) in a relative tight timeframe.
Purging Voters
In addition to increasing voter registration, the NVRA also limits the circumstances in which states can remove individuals from the voter rolls in order to reduce the chance that citizens eligible to vote will be removed from the rolls. The NVRA states that “the name of a registrant may not be removed from the official list of eligible voters except: (1) if the registrant requests he or she be removed, (2) in accordance with state law regarding eligibility in cases of criminal convictions or mental incapacity, (3) where the registrant has died, or (4) where the registrant’s residence has changed.
But some states have begun to aggressively purge otherwise eligible voters from their voting rolls for a host of invalid reasons. For example, in Texas, the Secretary of State attempted to purge naturalized citizens from voter rolls because they had once indicated to the DMV that they were green card holders or legal permanent residents; of course, individuals routinely naturalize before needing to update their DMV records. And in Georgia, the Secretary of State attempted to purge voters from the rolls simply because their name did not exactly match other governmental records. But it is commonplace to have typographical errors in data entry and, in particular, ethnic names often do not conform to the naming format of a given or first name followed by a surname. These practices were only halted after civic engagement organizations filed multiple, successful lawsuits.
Documentary Proof of Citizenship Requirement for Voter Registration
Citizenship is a prerequisite to voting in federal elections. In order to register, individuals must sign a statement under penalty of perjury affirming that they are citizens and that they meet all voter eligibility requirements. While this has been the accepted practice for decades and by courts, beginning in 2004, a handful of states have decided to go further and require voters to provide documentary proof of their citizenship, such as birth certificates, naturalization cards, or Native American tribal documents. Arizona was the first state in 2004 to impose such a documentary proof-of-citizenship requirement, with Kansas, Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia following suit in the following decade.
Documentary proof of citizenship requirements disproportionately affect students, the elderly, people with disabilities, low-income individuals, the homeless, naturalized citizens, and communities of color. Acceptable documents to prove citizenship for this requirement generally include any driver’s or non-driver’s ID that includes a notation that the person submitted proof of U.S. citizenship, a U.S. birth certificate, a U.S. passport or U.S. naturalization documents, certain tribal IDs, and other rare documents. Obtaining requisite government-issued proof of citizenship requires both the time and cost of physically getting the documentation. Additionally, foreign-born persons will not have some of these documentary options available to them because of their place of birth, and they also face additional fees to obtain a replacement Certificate of Naturalization, which currently requires $555 and takes around 10 to 13 months to process. Thus, these requirements place an unequal and undue burden on those least likely to participate in our democracy.
Additional Requirements for Naturalized Citizens
While not as prevalent, there have been states that have treated their naturalized citizens as second-class citizens by placing additional requirements upon them in order to vote. For example, in Louisiana, a law on the books for almost 150 years required only naturalized citizens to submit proof of citizenship in person at their local registrar’s office after submitting their voter registration form. For groups on the ground, there was a noticeable uptick in strict enforcement of this law around 2012. This resulted in more naturalized citizens declining to register when they learned about the cumbersome process. After a lawsuit was filed challenging this law, Louisiana’s governor signed a bill that repealed the discriminatory requirement in 2016. More recently, in Mississippi, a lawsuit was filed in November 2019 challenging state law that imposes a documentary proof-of-citizenship requirement for voter registration on only naturalized citizens.
Increasing Access for All
Efforts at the state level have not all been negative—there has also been an increase in efforts to pass proactive, affirmative election reform that would increase access to voter registration and voting for all voters. A better understanding about why people choose not to vote is needed in order to best assess which proactive election reform would improve the voter registration process. An analysis of the reasons why people choose not to vote shows that some of the main reasons for not voting are focused on lack of interest (either in voting itself or the specific candidates or campaigns) or forgetting to vote. However, the analysis further shows that around half of those choosing not to vote do so for one of the following lack-of- access reasons: illness or disability; out of town; too busy; conflicting schedule; transportation problems; registration problems; or inconvenient polling place (see Table 3). The following proactive election report policies can address many of these reasons and ensure that those who have an interest in voting, but who have some type of access issue, can still cast a meaningful ballot in future elections.
Table 3. Not Voting Because of Lack of Access by Race and Ethnicity