Congressman Works to Reform Nation’s Voting Laws and Expand the Franchise
Newsletter Volume 4 Issue 3
November 30, 2009
WASHINGTON – Advancement Project recently provided substantial technical advice and assistance to Congressman Rush Holt (D-New Jersey) in his effort to write new federal legislation that would eliminate unnecessary voting barriers in advance of the 2010 mid-term elections.
In October, Holt’s bills, H.R. 3835, the Protection Against Wrongful Voter Purges Act, and H.R. 3552, the Provisional Ballot Fairness in Counting Act, were introduced and referred to the House Committee on Administration to be considered in addition to an earlier bill introduced by Mr. Holt, H.R. 2894, the Voter Confidence and Increased Accountability Act.
“We provided extensive comments and assistance,” said Senior Attorney Bradley E. Heard, earlier this week, who headed up Advancement Project’s work on this bill.
In response to a request from Mr. Holt’s office for legal analysis and guidance on drafts of the bills, Advancement Project suggested the incorporation of several additional provisions to H.R. 3885, which Advancement Project believes would go even further to protect voters and expand access to voting in advance of the 2010 federal general election, in which all House members and one-third of Senators will be elected.
Among the suggested reforms offered by Advancement Project, which were adopted into H.R. 3835, was the addition of provisions that:
- Bar the immediate removal of voters when election mail is returned as undeliverable;
- Add additional criteria that states must employ before they remove voters from voter rolls who appear to have registered in another jurisdiction;
- Limit attempts by states to require additional proof of citizenship for those registering to vote beyond that which Congress has already mandated.
Heard said that these suggested provisions--incorporated in H.R. 3835, the Protection Against Wrongful Voter Purges Act--were developed from Advancement Project’s research in 2008, which revealed numerous deficiencies in the nation’s voting laws, some of which could allow eligible voters to be purged from the rolls unnecessarily or prevent them from registering.
Proof-of-citizenship requirements, for example, which were passed into law in Arizona and Georgia in recent years, require additional documentation of all new registrants--even though the federal government’s voter-registration form--which is an acceptable means of registering voters throughout the country—already requires voter applicants to attest, under penalty of perjury, to their age and citizenship before they can be registered.
Arizona’s law, which requires that voter applicants provide additional documentary proof of citizenship, is currently being enforced, although its legality is being challenged in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Georgia’s proof-of-citizenship law, which was enacted in May 2009, must be submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice, under the Voting Rights Act, for preclearance before the law can be enforced.
“We believe it’s already illegal for states to require additional proof of citizenship,” said Heard. “Given the recent efforts of Arizona and Georgia to thwart federal law, however, we believe the National Voter Registration Act should be clarified to state in explicit terms that states cannot require additional documentary proof of citizenship, in addition to the already-mandated attestations under penalty of perjury, as a precondition of registration.”
Studies have shown that proof of citizenship requirements—like ID laws--could disenfranchise millions of eligible citizens and fall harshest on the poor and communities of color that are less likely to have the required documentation and less likely to have the ability to replace lost documents.
Advancement Project provided analysis and feedback on H.R. 3552, the Provisional Ballot Fairness in Counting Act, which would eliminate the wrong-precinct rule for provisional ballots in federal elections, and H.R. 2894, the Voter Confidence and Increased Accountability Act, which would mandate the use of individual, durable, voter-verified paper ballots in all federal elections.
Under H.R. 3552, a provisional ballot cast outside of the voter’s precinct would count as to votes for president and the U.S. Senate, as long as the voter is registered in the state. Votes cast for Congress would count as long as the voter is registered in the congressional district for which the vote was cast.
H.R. 2894 would provide voter-verified paper ballots, allowing some evidence of how voter voted, which could be used in a recount or whenever election results are in question.
Heard said he hopes that congressional representatives continue to support Holt’s bills.
“With all the attention being focused on health care and the economy, it’s hard for voting rights concerns to get the attention that they deserve,” said Heard. “We hope enough congressional representatives will do what’s necessary to pass the reforms into law before 2010.”
Advancement Project’s full recommendations for election reform, based on problems identified in the 2008 election cycle, are contained in Uncovering Flaws in Election Administration, a report jointly authored with the NAACP National Voter Fund and Voter Action in July 2009.
Holt recently praised Advancement Project’s work on the reform legislation.
“Advancement Project understands that the right to vote is the most important right, as it is the right through which citizens preserve all other rights. I value and appreciate Advancement Project’s assistance in crafting and endorsing three important bills I have introduced: the Provisional Ballot Fairness in Counting Act (H.R. 3552), the Protection Against Wrongful Voter Purges Act (H.R. 3835), and the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act (H.R. 2894). Passing these bills would help ensure the fairness and integrity of future elections, in time for the next general election.”
