Fifteen years ago, Congress enacted the National Voter Registration Act, also known as “Motor Voter” law, to help facilitate and improve voter registration across the country: “States were enthusiastic about the motor-vehicle section of the law, and millions of new voters got on the rolls while getting a driver’s license,” the New York Times editorialized yesterday. “But registration at public assistance offices proved far less popular.”
The Times claimed daunting paperwork and partisan politics under the Bush Administration stifled the impact of the NVRA at public assistance agencies. However, in a recession that leaves more Americans resorting to public assistance, including “food stamps, welfare, Medicaid, disability assistance and child health programs,” this section of the federal law could bring millions to the voter rolls with the resurgence of enforcement from the Department of Justice, which issued guidelines on the law in April. Citing successful litigation by advocacy groups–including Project Vote–the Times asserts that NVRA enforcement can be effective in facilitating more more balanced electorate.
“When advocacy groups sued Ohio and Missouri to force their public assistance offices into complying, huge groups of new voters surged onto the rolls — more than 100,000 in Ohio, and more than 200,000 in Missouri,” the Times wrote. “Nationwide enforcement by the Justice Department could add millions more. The more people who have access to the ballot, the better the country will be.”