Popularly known as the “Motor Voter Law,” the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) of 1993 was an attempt to increase voter registration numbers (and hopefully turnout percentages). The most familiar part of the law allowed voters to register when they applied for or renewed their driver’s licenses.
But Congress also wanted to address the equity/class issues, so they mandated that states make registration opportunities available at public assistance agencies.
Budget issues and a lack of will prevented many states from fully implementing “Section 7” (the part about public assistance agencies) of the law. Demos has a new report out on how Virginia has stepped up to the plate.
Last April, Demos, Democracy South, the Virginia Organizing Project, and the Virginia Conference of the NAACP alerted the State Board of Elections and the Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS) that registration numbers in public assistance offices had been declining and that field investigations suggested many office staffers weren’t even aware of the requirement.
According to the report, there has been an eight-fold increase in voter registrations by VDSS since the state took action to address the concerns of voting rights groups. Report author Scott Novakowski, Senior Policy Analyst in the Democracy Program at Demos, noted in a statement that the results were dramatic but consistent with other states that have taken steps to implement Section 7. "The evidence from Virginia and those of others states shows that agency-based voter registration is proven to work, and all states still not in full compliance with the law are doing a great disservice to their citizens,” Novakowski said. "They should look to Virginia and others with recent successes and work vigorously to adopt similar models.”
Novakowski has an article about provisional voting in the fall issue of the National Civic Review.
You can view the full report by visiting the Demos web site.