Public Agency Voter RegistrationCongress passed the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) in 1993 to increase the number of citizens registered to vote in Federal elections. It’s often referred to as the “motor voter” law because it requires states to offer voter registration with driver’s license application and renewal.
Section 7 of the NVRA requires state public assistance offices to offer voter registration opportunities to all clients and applicants. Public assistance offices are in a unique position to increase voter registration rates among low-income citizens, furthering the intent of the NVRA to increase registration among populations underrepresented on the voter registration rolls.
A handful of states have been successful in complying with the federal law and increasing registration among low-income voters, but far too many states have failed to implement the public agency requirement of the law. While voter registration as a whole has increased 17% since the implementation of the NVRA, registration among low-income citizens has decreased, with registrations from social service agencies decreasing by 59%. The NVRA Implementation Project was created to address this problem.
The Project is a joint effort by Project Vote, a leading nonpartisan, nonprofit provider of voter engagement services; Demos, a national voting rights and election reform policy organization; and ACORN, a national community organization of low- and moderate-income families. The Project assists states, social service agencies, and election officials with implementation of the federal law. We also documents noncompliance and, when necessary, initiate litigation to enforce the NVRA.
Contact Michael Slater, Deputy Director, for more information.
ResourcesAdditional NVRA Documents |
