While the United States has come a long way in expanding the franchise over the past 220 years, barriers to participation still exist and these barriers disproportionately impact low-income citizens. In 2008, over 11 million low-income adult citizens remained unregistered to vote and the registration gap between low-income and high-income citizens was over 19 percentage points.
Research by Demos and its partners demonstrates that the compliance gaps found in states such as Missouri, North Carolina and Virginia reflect a nationwide problem.