VOTER REGISTRATION LOCK DOWN
CLEARING THE PATH FOR JUST DEMOCRACY


February 2004


“If you are not on the rolls, you will have no power at the polls”

Many community organizations and activists will engage in voter registration drives leading up to the 2004 election. Here are some tips to ensure that eligible people who submit valid voter registration applications get on the rolls and stay on the rolls.

State Deadlines for and Outcome of Voter Registration Applications
In order to be eligible to vote, federal and most state laws require a person to submit a completed voter registration application no later than 30 days before the date of a primary or general election. To find out the state voter registration deadlines contact your state elections office.

Federal law requires state elections offices to provide notice to each person who submits a completed voter registration as to whether his or her application was accepted or denied. If the application is accepted then the applicant usually receives a voter registration card in the mail. If the application is denied, the applicant should be notified by a letter detailing why the application was denied. It is important to find out what your state’s notices look like and to urge voter registration applicants to look for them in the mail.

If a person has applied for voter registration and has not received a voter registration card within two weeks of submitting the application, the person should contact his or her local elections office to find out the status of the application.

New Voter Registration Identification Requirements
The Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) requires states to obtain an identification (ID) number from individuals who register to vote after January 1, 2003. Most states will require a person to include in her voter registration application a state driver’s license number or the last 4 digits of her social security number. If a person does not have a driver’s license or social security number, the state will assign her an ID number for voter registration purposes. If an application does not contain an ID number or the applicant fails to indicate on the application that he or she does not have an ID number, then the application will not be processed.

In addition to providing an ID number, HAVA requires that a person registering to vote by mail for the first time in a particular state or county, must provide proof of identification with her mail-in application. The type of proof varies from state to state, but it may include, (1) a copy of current and valid photo identification card or (2) a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement or government document that shows the applicant’s current address. Contact your local elections office for more information on what type of proof of identification must be included with a first time voter’s mail-in voter registration application.

There is no need to collect proof of identification from first-time voters if their applications are collected during a voter registration drive and is hand-delivered to the local elections office. You should, however, contact your local election office to confirm that this proof of identification is not needed before you hand-deliver collected applications.

Voter Registration Drives – Checklist DO’s
  • DO keep a record of the names of all persons completing voter registration applications. DO make sure that the applicant includes a driver’s license or the last 4-digits of a social security number on his or her application. If the applicant does not have a driver’s license or social security number, please ask him or her to indicate this fact on the application by checking the appropriate box. DO make sure that the applicant checks YES to the questions “Are you a citizen of the United States of America?” and “Will you be 18 years of age on or before election day?” If the applicant checks NO to either question, please advise him or her that he or she is not eligible to vote. If the applicant fails to check either box, the application may be considered incomplete and may not be processed. DO ensure that applicants use a street number for an address. Do not use a post office box. DO make copies of all the completed voter registration applications received from applicants for your records.
  • DO hand-deliver the original applications to the local elections office within 5 days of receiving them and ask the elections office to provide you with a receipt for the applications.
State List Maintenance Procedures (Purging Names from Voter Registration Lists)
The 2000 presidential election has taught voting rights advocates that some states wrongfully purged names from voter registration lists because they relied on erroneous information to verify a person’s voting status. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) reported (1) that in 2001-2002, a total of 15,009,935 names were removed from registration lists across the country and (2) as of November 2002 approximately 20,000,000 registered voters remained on the inactive list of registered voters and may be removed permanently from the registration lists after the 2004 general election.

This section outlines instances in which a state may legally purge names from the voter registration lists and shares some tips on what you can do to make sure that individuals in your community are not wrongfully purged from voter registration rolls.

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What Does Federal Law Require?
One of the primary purposes of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (“NVRA”) is to make sure that once a citizen is registered to vote, that they remain on the voting registration list until they are no longer eligible to vote in the state. Accordingly, the NVRA requires states to develop a program for maintaining the integrity and accuracy of voter registration lists. Under the NVRA, states MAY NOT remove names from the voter registration list for failure to vote or for change of address to another location within the registrar’s jurisdiction (in most states the registrar’s jurisdiction is a county).

The NVRA requires states to develop a “uniform and nondiscriminatory” list maintenance program for removing the names of voters. A state may legally remove an individual from the voter registration rolls for the following reasons:
  • Upon the death of voter; Upon written confirmation that the voter has changed his or her address to a location outside the registrar’s jurisdiction (in most states outside a county); Upon failure to respond to mailings from state or local elections office asking the voter to confirm that he or she has moved to an address outside the registrar’s jurisdiction AND the voter fails to vote in two subsequent federal general elections; Upon the request of the voter; Upon the finding of mental incapacity of the voter as provided by state law; or
  • Upon the criminal conviction of the voter under state or federal law.
The FEC has reported that since the implementation of the NVRA, many states have had problems maintaining accurate voter registration lists. Such problems include, (1) receiving incorrect postal service change of address information, (2) receiving erroneous felony conviction or death notices from state agencies, and (3) not receiving responses from voters who had been sent letters asking for change of address confirmation. HAVA, in an effort to rectify these problems, requires each state election official to develop “a single, uniform, official, centralized, interactive computerized statewide voter registration list.”

These statewide computerized databases must contain the names of every registered voter in the State and they must be coordinated with other agency databases. In addition, any election official in the state, including local election officials, must have access to the database so that voter registration information may be entered into the system easily. Because various agencies will share the database, HAVA also requires state or local officials to provide “security measures to prevent the unauthorized access . . .” to the statewide computerized database.

Voter Registration List Maintenance Check List
Under HAVA, states must create a statewide computerized system no later than January 1, 2004, or no later than January 1, 2006 if the state receives a temporary waiver. Many states have already passed legislation to create these systems and there are several things community activists should do to ensure the integrity and accuracy of the statewide computerized voter registration database:
  • DO advise voters in your communities to call their local elections offices and ask for copies of their voter registration card, if they are not sure of their voter registration status. Voters should complete another voter registration application if they find any information to be incorrect; DO ask your state or local elections officials about the security measures taken to ensure that the voter registration lists may be accessed ONLY by persons involved in the voter registration process; DO urge your state elections official to create a statewide standard to be used to verify the accuracy of data received about voters’ registration status before purging voters’ names from the system. For example, purges for felony convictions should require 100% matches of the first name, last name, birth date and social security number. If there is not a perfect match between the name of the convicted felony and the name of the voter, then the voter’s name should remain in the database. DO urge your state elections official to create a statewide computerized system that will allow state agencies to provide missing data for a voter. For example, if an applicant forgets her social security number, a matching name, address and date of birth should be enough to verify the voter in the social security administrations database.
  • DO urge your state elections official to make sure that purging of names on the basis of change of addresses occurs no later than 90 days before a primary or general election.
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