A preliminary analysis of the United States Election Assistance Commission’s (EAC) biennial report to Congress on the NVRA shows the dramatic impact that stepped-up oversight and enforcement of voter registration mandates at state agencies can have in reversing the long decline in registration among low-income and working class Americans. Individual states clearly show the impact of enforcement activity although the data in the recent EAC Report also show that many states continue to ignore their responsibilities.
TOP FACTS:
The number of voter registrations at public assistance agencies has risen sharply in specific states following re-implementation work and litigation. Most of the top ten performing states in the 2009-2010 EAC biennial report are states where there has been enforcement activity or cooperative efforts to improve public agency registration.
The data in the current EAC report strongly underscore the need for the U.S. Department of Justice to step up its enforcement efforts in this area. Enforcement action of Section 7 of the NVRA under the Obama Administration has just recently begun.
Many states continue to ignore their responsibilities. While voter registration applications have been increasing at agencies serving low-income Americans since 2005-2006, it nevertheless has dropped off by 57 percent since 1995.