More than fifteen years after the passage of the National Voter Registration Act, few states are complying with the law’s requirement that voter registration services are provided to those who apply for public assistance. Though highly successful in the first two years the NVRA was implemented, in 1995-1996, registrations through public assistance agencies have steadily declined, and had fallen by 79 percent nationwide in 2007-2008. Project Vote and other voting rights organizations have been working to bring several states into compliance with this key provision of the NVRA, and—as a last resort—have been forced to bring lawsuits in several states to ensure that low-income public assistance clients have access to voter registration services as required by law.
But one Colorado county is proving what can be accomplished through voluntary compliance with the NVRA, and demonstrating that—no matter how “busy” or “underfunded” a program may be—expanding access to the democratic process for low-income residents is as simple as it is priceless.
“I know it’s an additional workload issue,” says Rick Bengsston, Acting Director of El Paso County Department of Human Services.”But if it becomes part of the daily process, it really isn’t that difficult to get this done.”
Earlier this summer, Project Vote was working with Colorado officials to bring the state into compliance, and determined that the densely populated El Paso County was seriously out of step with the NVRA. After being notified of their noncompliance in all four public assistance sites—which provide TANF, Food Stamps, Medicaid, and other benefits—Bengtsson and the Colorado Benefits Management System collaborated to integrate voter registration with regular services.
As a result, the number of clients offered voter registration services at El Paso County agencies has increased sevenfold since April. How did they make such a quick turnaround?
According to Bengsston, it was simply by making voter registration a part of the every day workload, and by holding offices accountable. “The first thing we did was make sure we had sufficient [voter registration] forms in stock,” Bengtsson said. Then, they made sure every site attached voter registration applications to every public assistance form, and implemented a staff training on the NVRA and how to apply it to public assistance services.
Finally, to keep all sites accountable for providing voter registration services, Bengtsson appointed the Dept. of Human Services’ quality assurance specialist to monitor voter registration at all public assistance sites in addition to the public assistance data she was already collecting.
“She now is collecting, reviewing, and tabulating the [voter registration] numbers, so she can report back to each of our managers to ensure that the appropriate steps are being taken, and that forms are being properly filled out and forwarded to the clerk and recorder,” he said.
Establishing a system to monitor and evaluate agency compliance is one of the most important steps that Project Vote and its partners recommend to ensure best practices, and Bengtsson agrees. “I think the big point is having one person who is not only accountable for collecting the forms, but knowing that we’re in compliance. It helps to have a compliance specialist, someone who is really analyzing and ensuring that we’re following the law.”
Bengtsson says another important component in keeping this opportunity available for low-income citizens is “helping staff understand the importance” of providing voter registration at public assistance agencies. “It’s the law – and it’s an opportunity for our citizens to participate in our political process.”
Having only learned of the NVRA’s mandates earlier this summer, El Paso County Commissioner Sallie Clark’s main mission in providing voter registration at public assistance agencies is to make sure the county is following federal law. While expressing concerns that increasingly high numbers of public assistance clients and declining resources could impede their ability to facilitate voter registration properly, Clark recognizes the importance of voter registration access, particularly for the people that they serve.
“A majority of our clients don’t have adequate transportation, and aren’t in jobs that allow flexibility to go to the clerk and recorder’s office during the day, so there is sometimes more concern about their basic needs than to register to vote,” she said. “But I do think that offering the service in the agency – and they do visit us on a fairly regular basis – ensures that they are given the information they need to make the decision about whether they should register to vote or not.”
Both Clark and Bengtsson agree that working with other state leaders to efficiently make voter registration part of the state’s services is key to successfully helping citizens in need not only get public assistance, but also get a chance to participate in the democratic process.
“I think that our workers really understand the reasons behind the law, and the reasoning is to ensure that citizens who are sometimes disenfranchised have easy access to their fundamental privileges of voting,” Clark said.