Power & Democracy Program Gains New Attorney
Newsletter Volume 4 Issue 3
November 30, 2009
VOTER PROTECTION VICTORIES
Pennsylvania Developing Plan to Boost Voter Registration at State Agencies
PENNSYLVANIA -- The Pennsylvania Department of State and the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare have taken steps to increase voter registration of clients of the state’s social service agencies, to improve compliance with federal and state law.
The move follows pressure from Advancement Project and other members of the Pennsylvania Voters Coalition, which have been concerned that Pennsylvania’s public assistance and disability agencies have not appeared to provide sufficient voter registration services and assistance to their clients.
The National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) was enacted to increase the registration of “the poor and people with disabilities” who do not have driver’s licenses and would not be registering at a Department of Motor Vehicles. To accomplish this goal, federal law and related state law require covered agencies to follow specific procedures to ensure that these clients are offered opportunities to register to vote. Yet unfortunately, the Pennsylvania Department of State’s 2006-2008 Annual Reports to the General Assembly showed that very low numbers of persons receiving these services were being registered in Pennsylvania, despite the fact that the agencies provided services to hundreds of thousands of clients, many of whom are unregistered.
To try to remedy this, Advancement Project, in conjunction with the Voters Coalition, wrote a letter in July 2009 to Governor Edward Rendell, Secretary of State Pedro Cortés, and the heads of the covered agencies in Pennsylvania. The coalition’s letter detailed the stark contrast between the great numbers of Pennsylvanians receiving services from these agencies, and the dearth of Pennsylvanians being registered to vote by most of these same agencies. For example, in 2008, 40 (out of 67) county Area Agencies on Aging, 38 county disability agencies, 51 county mental health/ mental retardation agencies, and 58 county education agencies reported zero registrations for the entire year.
The coalition requested a meeting with the Departments to discuss and establish a plan of action to ensure Pennsylvania agencies’ compliance with the law. The potential impact from improving these procedures is great: in Missouri, after a similar NVRA compliance lawsuit was filed, and a preliminary injunction was entered, there was more than a 12-fold increase in the number of voter registrations collected by the state’s public- assistance agency. Incredibly, the number of voter registrations increased from fewer than 8,000, annually, to more than 100,000.
While the Pennsylvania Department of State initially appeared reluctant to address the Voters Coalition’s concerns, the Department subsequently agreed to arrange the meetings with the covered agencies and is playing a key role in revising agency procedures with the goal of increasing registrations. During a quarterly meeting with several members of the Coalition in September, the Secretary of State agreed to schedule these meetings, beginning with the Department of Public Welfare (DPW).
Advancement Project’s Pennsylvania Senior Attorney Kathryn Boockvar said that despite the Department’s apparent initial hesitations, the meeting held on Nov. 12 with Deputy Secretary of State Tom Weaver, Chief of Voter Registration Lindsey Hock, and officials from DPW, was very positive and productive.
During the meeting, state officials revealed that in the last few months, they had revised their voter registration training procedures of agency employees and would be enacting a program to train all employees every six months, which is required by state law. Boockvar said state officials acknowledged that they did not know how often prior employee trainings on voter registration procedures had occurred and what procedures had been covered. To remedy this, the agency distributed a power-point presentation, which they intend to use uniformly for the six-month trainings, and officials invited Advancement Project and the other attendees to assess the state’s training plans and give feedback. The new training program was scheduled to begin the following day.
Additionally, DPW officials said that as of Nov. 1, a new quality control program was developed, which, for apparently the first time, will include assessment of voter registration compliance and effectiveness in the agency offices. As with the training program, Boockvar said the agency invited Advancement Project and the other attendees to review the quality control program and give suggestions. The coalition team is reviewing these programs as well as programs used successfully in Missouri and other states to help maximize effectiveness in Pennsylvania.
“These developments in Pennsylvania are a terrific first step,” said Boockvar. Now, Advancement Project and the coalition will have to assess the plans, submit proposals, and ultimately review and analyze the results, which, hopefully, will produce significantly higher rates of voter registration.
To Boockvar, one of the biggest challenges in improving the DPW’s procedures, is the difficulty of providing the same voter registration services to clients who apply for benefits by remote means. She said that people may apply for some DPW benefits on the phone or online, which adds significant convenience for benefits purposes, but produces a greater challenge for voter registration. When an applicant appears in person, the DPW employee may assist the applicant with voter registration concurrently and submit the application directly. But, she said if a person applies by phone or online, there is a greater chance the person may never request or complete a voter registration application.
“We have to be creative in devising ways to reach remote applicants who never come into the office,” she said. It is also essential that the significance of this effort be communicated effectively to state employees.
“One of the things we talked about with the officials is that agency employees need to understand and feel that voter registration is a core component of what they’re doing. Voter registration assistance should not be perceived as a secondary, voluntary service. It is mandatory, and training should emphasize to employees that it is a core part of their underlying mission,” said Boockvar. This acceptance of the mission should help employees to communicate effectively with clients about voter registration, whether it is by phone or in-person, which, in turn, should increase the likelihood that unregistered clients will register.
The meeting on Nov. 12 was just the first of many meetings, said Boockvar. Advancement Project and other members of the Pennsylvania Voters Coalition expect to meet separately with the heads of other state agencies, to create similar reforms in the other covered agencies. “The deputy secretary of state made it clear that this is a continuing effort, and we look forward to this partnership to ensure that low-income, disabled, and elderly Pennsylvanians can fully participate in our democracy.”
ON THE GROUND
Congressman Works to Reform Nation’s Voting Laws and Expand the Franchise
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.”
Ohio House of Representatives Hears Testimony on Election Reform Bill
OHIO – The Ohio General Assembly is considering an election reform bill, Amended Substitute House Bill 260 (Am. Sub. H.B. 260), which would reduce the misuse and overuse of provisional ballots.
On Nov. 18, the Ohio House passed the bill and it is currently being considered in the Ohio Senate.
Last month, Advancement Project Staff Attorney Donita Judge offered testimony before the Ohio House of Representatives Committee on Elections and Ethics about problems with Ohio’s administration of provisional ballots following an invitation from the bill’s co-sponsor, State Rep. Dan Stewart (D-Columbus). She also expressed support for H.B. 260.
Judge, who serves as Advancement Project’s lead attorney in Ohio, told legislators that the state’s complex provisional ballot rules have “consistently resulted in misuse and overuse of provisional ballots.”
Advancement Project has been monitoring federal elections in Ohio and the administration of provisional ballots since 2004 and working with community partners, election officials and elected officials to probe problems associated with their use.
In her testimony, Judge told legislators that although the Help America Vote Act of 2002 was intended to keep voters from being disenfranchised when their names do not appear on precinct registers, Ohio’s provisional ballot rules unnecessarily disenfranchise many voters. Ohio’s provisional ballot rules, she said, are some of the most complex in the country and have often resulted in poll-worker error.
Judge testified that the state’s change-of-address rule—which requires Ohio voters to cast a provisional ballot if they have not updated their address with election officials--has caused more than 125,000 provisional ballots to be cast statewide in every federal election since 2004. Failing to update one’s address in advance of Election Day is the most common reason for issuing provisional ballots.
In the 2008 general election, some 207,000 provisional ballots were cast in Ohio and 40,000 were rejected.
H.B. 260 would allow Ohio voters to update their address at the polls on Election Day and vote by regular ballot after providing valid identification, completing a change of address form and appearing at the correct polling place.
Judge told legislators that H.B. 260 would simplify Ohio’s provisional ballot rules—reducing the reasons for the issuance of provisional ballots from 14 to four, alleviating poll worker confusion that unnecessarily disenfranchises voters.
The bill, if passed, would also end the wrong-precinct rule--under which provisional ballots are rejected when cast in the incorrect precinct--as long as the voter casts the provisional ballot in the Ohio county in which the voter is registered.
Judge testified that Advancement Project’s research shows that, in many instances, voters cast ballots in the correct polling place but in the wrong precinct and were thus disenfranchised because under Ohio law such ballots are automatically rejected.
H.B. 260 would allow ballots cast in the wrong precinct to be partially counted for races in which the voter is eligible to vote. In the 2008 general election, 14,335 provisional ballots were totally rejected because voters cast ballots in the wrong precinct.
In a recent interview, Judge said: “If H.B. 260 were passed into law, Ohio would broaden the participation of eligible voters, which is truly a great thing for democracy.”
Advancement Project’s testimony before the Ohio House follows its participation in two summits organized by Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner last winter and spring. At both summits, Judge was invited to offer recommendations on the use of provisional ballots in Ohio, which shaped the bill.
Expansion of Early Vote Sites and Hours in Florida
FLORIDA – Advancement Project has been advocating with Florida state legislators to introduce a bill that would expand the hours for early voting statewide and the options for creating early voting sites.
Under current Florida law, early voting sites have been limited to public libraries, city halls and supervisors offices. Advancement Project has advocated for reform of Florida’s early voting law to:
* Allow early voting sites to be established at a variety of locations, including malls, colleges, fairgrounds and other government offices;
* Expand early voting hours to 12 hours on weekdays and a total of 12 hours on weekends;
* Require uniformity in the number of early voting sites in each county, based on the number of sites in the 2008 general election or a formula based on the number of registered voters in the county, whichever results in the larger number of sites.
Early voting is a critical issue for voters of color in Florida, said Carolyn Thompson, the Florida Voter Protection Advocate for Advancement Project. In the 2008 general election, thousands of voters, particularly in South Florida, stood in line for several hours to vote early. For Advancement Project, the expansion of early-voting issue was among a number of legislative reforms the organization urged in Florida following the 2008 election.
Advancement Project’s research revealed significant disparities in access to early voting in Florida in 2008 with some communities establishing significantly more early voting sites than others, resulting in a far higher proportion of early votes being cast in some communities. In some parts of South Florida, voters waited as long as eight hours to cast ballots early.
While Hillsborough County had 13 sites for some 701,000 registered voters, Pinellas County, which had about 543,000 registered voters, established only three early voting sites. “Pinellas County was among the lowest in voter turnout during early voting in the state of Florida,” said Thompson.
Advancement Project decided to focus on early voting among an array of concerns, said Thompson, because it is the one election reform issue that is most likely to draw bipartisan support in the Florida legislature.
Problems voting early in Florida generated significant media attention in the run-up to the 2008 election, causing Gov. Charlie Crist to identify the early voting problem as a state of emergency, leading him to issue an executive order extending early voting hours.
Advancement Project’s proposed early-voting bill would give supervisors far more flexibility to determine suitable early-vote sites, as long as registered voters have reasonably equal access to voting, said Thompson.
The expansion of early voting is an issue that should draw support from both sides of the aisle, said Thompson. Further, advocating for early voting will also serve as an important organizing tool. “There’s a grassroots component, galvanizing and energizing groups that will come out of this,” Thompson said, adding that she expects African-American churches to be instrumental in applying pressure for expansion of early voting.”
“We are hopeful that early voting reform will be enacted and in effect by the August 2010 primary election,” said Thompson. “But by the time we get to the top of the hill, everyone will know about it,” she said.
Power & Democracy Program Gains New Attorney
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA -- Advancement Project’s Power & Democracy team expanded last month with the addition of a new attorney, Chhaya Malik Bhalotra, who will work with Advancement Project’s Redistricting, Right to Vote and Voter Protection Programs. Bhalotra will join six attorneys already working in the Power & Democracy Program.
Bhalotra worked for four years as a litigation associate at Hogan & Hartson, LLP, a prominent law firm in Washington, D.C., where she worked in general litigation and on white collar crime matters.
Prior to her work with the firm, Bhalotra was a Thurgood Marshall Fellow for the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights in San Francisco, Calif., her hometown, where she successfully challenged violations of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 in Ohio and worked on matters relating to municipal services discrimination, minority vote dilution cases, and an anti-Arab American discrimination claim against a national restaurant chain.
Bhalotra said she was drawn to voting rights work while working for the Lawyers’ Committee. “I became offended by the way in which voting rights had become a partisan and racial justice issue,” she said. “As a country, we should be vehemently protective of the proper functioning of our democracy and voting systems.”
In coming to Advancement Project, Bhalotra is returning to the type of social-justice work that was her goal at the University of California, Berkley, Boalt Hall School of Law, from which she graduated in 2003. “I’ve always wanted to be a civil rights lawyer,” she said.
Bhalotra left the Lawyer’s Committee to work for Hogan & Hartson and gained experience and training in large-scale litigation. “My time there taught me to effectively synthesize massive amounts of information and to develop creative strategies to handle complex legal issues.”
Bhalotra said the skills she gained at the firm will only help her in her work as a civil rights attorney. At Advancement Project, she will work in the Redistricting Project, which is designed to assist communities of color in redistricting planning, aiding those communities to ensure fair representation after the 2010 census and to elect leaders of their choice. Through the Right to Vote Project, she will work to advance the organization’s goal of spearheading a movement to enshrine the right to vote in federal law through a constitutional amendment, which would end the current system that allows states and 13,000 election jurisdictions to vary widely in access to voting.
For Bhalotra, doing civil rights work is really about giving back to her community.
“My parents struggled to provide opportunities for me that they could never have,” said Bhalotra. “I personally have benefited from the generosity and strength of my family and community and I am honored I have a chance to give back.”
Bhalotra, who is married with an 11-month-old daughter, said her only current career goal is to continue working at Advancement Project to move forward with civil rights work.
“I see myself working on what’s coming down the road with redistricting and developments in voting rights,” she said. “It is a unique time when there is a lot of momentum for change. I hope to be part of it. I want it to be easier for people to believe we can engage in our democracy and make it work for us.”
Advancement Project’s Voter Protection Program Director Elizabeth Westfall praised the new addition to the Program.
“Chhaya’s substantive expertise in redistricting and voter protection issues, coupled with her litigation prowess, will significantly advance the work of Advancement Project’s Power & Democracy Program,” Westfall said.
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