Introduction

Currently, I serve as Senior Counsel at Dēmos: A Network for Ideas and Action. Dēmos is a non-partisan public policy center, founded in 2000, whose work has focused on expanding democratic participation and lowering the barriers that exist to that participation. Since 2004, Dēmos has conducted extensive research on compliance with Section 7 of the NVRA including statistical analysis and field investigations, published three reports on the NVRA, worked with public assistance and election officials in states across the country to improve their compliance with the NVRA, and served as counsel in a case currently on appeal in the Sixth Circuit challenging Ohio’s failure to implement the law. In my time at Dēmos, I have worked extensively on efforts to ensure better compliance with and implementation of the NVRA’s requirements, especially with regard to public assistance agencies. I have advised state election and human services officials about compliance, brought litigation to ensure compliance, and spoken at conferences and written about the issue. In particular, I have had the opportunity and privilege to work with state officials in both North Carolina and Michigan and I wish to formally commend them to you for their voluntarily undertaking the implementation of best practices with respect to agency-based voter registration. In North Carolina, the improved procedures led to over 34,500 voters registered at the state’s public assistance agencies between February 2007 and February 2008, an almost six-fold increase in the 2 average number of voters being registered each month. While the program in Michigan is not yet completely rolled out, the state Department of Human Services will utilize extensive public education materials and also will partner with other agencies and community organizations to reach unregistered voters in a way that is truly innovative.