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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APRIL 4, 2007
CONTACT: Tim Rusch, 212-389-1407, trusch@demos.org Stuart Comstock-Gay, 212-419-8769, scomstock-gay@demos.org
NATIONAL VOTING RIGHTS GROUP APPLAUDS IOWA GOVERNOR CHET CULVER FOR SIGNING ELECTION DAY REGISTRATION LAW
NEW YORK--Demos applauds Iowa Governor Chet Culver for signing a bill passed by the Iowa State Legislature to enact Election Day Registration. EDR allows eligible voters who are unregistered to cast a ballot on Election Day. Iowa is the eighth state in the nation to implement EDR. The others are Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Maine and Idaho.
Demos' Democracy Program Director Stuart Comstock-Gay issued the following statement of support:
"By eliminating arbitrary registration deadlines, allowing voters to cast a ballot when they may have been mistakenly purged from the roles, and enabling more mobile voters to vote regardless of having recently changed addresses, EDR significantly enhances the ability of eligible Americans to register and cast their vote.
"Governor Chet Culver, who was Iowa's Secretary of State and chief election official until last year, has consistently shown a commitment to the best democratic principles, and his enthusiastic support of EDR is no exception. I would like to applaud the Governor and the legislators in Iowa who exhibited impressive leadership in making EDR law, as well as the advocates who fought for its passage.
"A recent Demos report showed that voter turnout rates are, on average, 10 to 12 percentage points higher in the seven states where EDR is currently used than in states that do not offer EDR. Another recent Demos study also projects that, if passed in Iowa, EDR could result in a 10.7 percent increase in voting among 18 to 25-year-olds.
"Efforts to adopt EDR are gathering momentum nationwide. In addition to Iowa, 21 states considered EDR proposals during the 2006 legislative sessions. Several of those states, including Hawaii, Washington, North Carolina and Connecticut, are on the verge of adopting a version of same day registration this year. Congressional lawmakers also included a provision for nationwide EDR in the Count Every Vote Act reintroduced this year.
"Iowa is leading the country in the coming wave of states poised to pass EDR, and we urge other states to follow suit and implement this important reform."
To find out more about EDR, and to download Demos' new Voters Win with Election Day Registration report and the new study on EDR in Iowa, visit www.demos.org.
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Note to editors: To schedule an interview with Stuart Comstock-Gay or Demos President Miles Rapoport, please contact Tim Rusch or Rebecca Ruiz at 212-633-1405 or at trusch@demos.org.
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