Until recently, it was a “lonely fight” by voting rights groups to implement the National Voter Registration Act at public assistance offices. Now backed by the Justice Department, NVRA enforcement may be the answer to improved voter registration and participation among the nation’s once overlooked, new voters. Further, it may be the ticket to battling the Tea Party vote, says journalist Laura Flanders at The Nation.
Flanders notes the recent work of voting rights groups–including Project Vote, Demos, and the Lawyer Committee for Civil Rights Under Law–that brought Ohio and Missouri, into compliance with the federal law, indicating a large number of low-income citizens are now registering to vote. If these underrepresented voters turn out, it could make a difference: “Securing their voting rights is a smart, effective way to find out,” says Flanders.
In April, Flanders notes, 40 million Americans participated in Food Stamp programs. “If 10 percent of those people registered to vote – a smaller percentage than seen at Missouri public assistance agencies after settling its NVRA suit – the nation’s voter rolls would grow by several million.
“…The numbers from Missouri and Ohio dwarf the size of the largest tea party rallies. Already, right-wingers fear these voters and NVRA compliance, commenting on websites that poor people should not vote for any number of ugly reasons. Now it’s up to other candidates to pay attention to voters who’ve until now been overlooked. Instead of obsessing about the tea partiers — give those newest voters some good reason to use that vote!”
Read the Nation article here.
Read more on the Public Agency Registration Project here.