Oct 01 2009
Independent Voter Registration Efforts Not Going Away
Proponents of automatic voter registration through various government agencies claim that by doing so, we’ll eliminate the problems that come with independent groups doing voter registration efforts. I see nothing in their proposal that could lead anyone to believe that. Here’s a clip from the modernization website.
Too Much Control by Independent Groups
Our voter registration system leaves the door open to fraud sometimes committed by third-party organizations. By relying on third-party registration groups, election officials are forced to wade through multiple registration applications from the same person and – even worse – countless applications from people who don’t exist. Each election cycle, local officials spend hundreds of millions of dollars doing their best to administer this system, but the forms get in the way. Eliminating voter registration forms and streamlining the process will not only take a weight off the shoulders of election officials, but will also save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.
The reality is that even with the so called “automatic” system, millions of voters in America are going to be in a situation months before the election where their voter registration is not up to date. And the political campaigns, who are raising and spending billions to win elections, aren’t going to sit idly by while those people remain ineligible.
Proponents of automatic registration say it will include a provision for people to opt out of the system and remain off the voter registration rolls. For the sake of discussion, in Canada, approximately 7% of people have not opted in. Let’s say a comparable number of people decide to opt out, either willfully, out of ignorance, or perhaps because of a mistake by a government bureaucrat. I believe that those multi-million dollar efforts to win elections are going to demand a mechanism to register those voters.
It is absurd to think that a law would be passed that would eliminate paper registration forms. Further, I think it would be harmful to the system. Third party registration efforts are one of the ways that our country mobilizes those who have previously checked out of our system.
For example, the number of registered voters in America from 1996 to 2002 fluctuated between 123 and 129 million. It spiked to a record 142 million in 2004. Proponents of an automatic system suggest that the so called modernization would have led to an even greater number of registered voters. At the same time, it is highly likely that millions of people would still have opted out prior to the 2002 elections.
Then, as issues about the Iraq War, treatment of terrorist suspects, the Patriot Act, etc. started to capture the public’s attention, who exactly was to have reached out to those newly discontented millions who quietly expressed their contentment in 2002 by not registering.
Outlawing third party groups is one aspect of the “modernization” effort that might look attractive on paper to those who are concerned about groups like ACORN. However, third party groups as well as the political parties will not likely forego active voter registration efforts and Congress is unlikely to pass any law that would outlaw them. And those with a love for free speech, free associations, and a vigorous election process shouldn’t embrace any law that would outlaw their efforts.
[...] has happened with Representative Turner in his defense of his associate Ty Cobb,” said Devaney. Independent Voter Registration Efforts Not Going Away – blog.champaigncountyclerk.com 10/01/2009 Proponents of automatic voter registration through [...]
Mark, there seems to be a widespread misunderstanding ACORN (and other groups) actually register voters.
They do not. ACORN (and Womens Voices, Women Vote) perform voter registration drives.
It would be more accurate to say, but too wordy that:
ACORN performs Voter Registration APPLICATION Drives.
ACORN turns those forms over to registrars, clerks, election directors or supervisor’s offices, and then those officials process them.
Mark, could you explain what happens when election officials process voter registration applications?
Also, it irritates me that very little is said about Women’s Voices Women Vote, who bombarded unsuspecting voters in dozens of states with partially completed voter registration forms that sometimes were inaccurate. Officials still had to go through any of the WVWV forms if voters sent them in.
I spoke with one official and she said some voters turned in the WVWV forms and effectively changed their voter reg info to -wrong- info.
We also had registered voters calling election offices who wondered why they were being sent forms, or asking why forms were sent to deceased members of their family and even family pets.
WVWV also made anonymous robo calls to registered African American voters telling them they weren’t registered and that they needed to complete a form that WVW would send, and THEN they could vote. This was during the Presidentail Primary in North Carolina. WVWV failed to mention in these calls that voters could register to vote *in person* during that early voting period.
Our Atty General told WVW not to come back to NC until they were prepared to meet with our officials and map out a plan to obey our laws. They also had to pay a huge fine.
Unfortunately, the only law we could hold them to was the law against anonymous robo calls.
Everything else they did they got off scott free.
I spoke with officials in other states and they wished they had a law to stop this.
Sorry went on too long.
Joyce, you’re right about ACORN and other groups. They really are just collecting forms. In some ways, they are in a catch 22. If they turn in invalid forms, they get criticized. If they don’t turn in forms, they might be violating the law. This whole topic deserves a post in and of itself.
We also had issues with the WVWV. I’m not sure what they used for mailing lists, but it’s a classic case of how these lists aren’t the end all for accuracy. I got a chuckle in Gerken’s book when she said that mail solicitation lists should be compared to the state’s registration list and that the mail solicitation companies have compiled extremely accurate databases. She’s obviously not looking in my mailbox.