Street roots., July 22, 2011, Page 11, Image 11

Street roots
11
July 22, 2011
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VOTING, fro m p age 1
Assistance Commission for the
years 2005 and 2006, shows
that a decade after the NVRA went into effect, •
about three percent of all voter registration
applications received through state agencies
nationally were processed through an office
providing public assistance or disability
services. However, a whopping 85 percent of all
applications were received at DMV offices.
But this could all change. The Obama
organization, made the Oregon NVRA
compliance legislation a priority during the last
legislative session, said Henry Kraemer, the
group’s organizing and political director.
In addition to getting the state in compliance
with federal requirements, the new law has the
potential to boost political participation among
hard-to-reach populations, said Kraemer.
“It’s à tremendous opportunity to bring
people into democracy,” said Kraemer. “It’s
been
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huge
in other states.”
In 2006, a coalition of public interest groups,
including Demos, Project Vote and The
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under
Law brought a lawsuit against the state of Ohio
to get it into compliance with NVRA’s public
assistance agency provisions.
Figures from the U.S. Electoral Assistance
Commission show that voter registrations at
agencies providing public assistance or
disability services rose significantly in Ohio
after the lawsuit was settled in 2009,
For the years 2005 and 2006, Ohio
processed 42,599 voter registration
administration is taking an interest in making
sure states comply with the NVRA. The U.S.
Department of Justice took Rhode Island to
court for not offering voter registration at
public assistance and disability services and
reached a settlement with the state last spring.
Earlier this month, the department filed a
similar suit against Louisiana.
To date about a dozen states have had some
sort of legal action brought dgainstthem' by
either voter advocacy organizations or the
federal government seeking to get them in line
with NVRA
The Bus Project, a civic engagement
applications from state public assistance
agencies, about 4.8 percent of all registrations.
It also processed 2,334 from agencies providing
services to the disabled, less than 1 percent of
all registrations.
In 2009 and 2010, nearly 246,923 voter
registrations in Ohio were received at public
agencies, 11 percent of all total registrations.
Registrations at disability service offices rose to
19,307, still less 1 percent of all voter
registrations.
A similar lawsuit filed in 2006 had similar
results in Missouri by the now defunct
Association of Community Organizations for
Reform Now, with help from Demos and
Project Vote.
Before the lawsuit, only 16,568 voter
registration forms were processed through
public assistance agencies in Missouri, about 4
percent of all applications. After the the
lawsuit was settled in 2009, that number rose
to 121,037, about 12 percent of all applications
processed in the state.
“It’s not like low-income people don’t want to
vote,” said Zeitler.
Oregon has even lower numbers. Less than
10,000 people registered to vote at a public
service agency, about two percent of all
registrations in 2009 and 2010. Oregon
disability service office processed 5,050.
With these low numbers, some lawmakers
worry that Oregon could be the next state to
face an expensive lawsuit, which prompted '
them to take action last legislative session.
Rep. Jefferson Smith, an East Portland
Democrat who sponsored the bill, said that the
council established by the legislation will
evaluate how well the state is doing with NVRA
compliance and what needs to change. The
council will also be looking at practical
considerations, he said. For instance, where
will students at federally funded universities be
given the opportunity to register?
One of the big obstacles, Smith anticipates,
is getting large state departments that already
have heavy case loads as well as entrenched
habits and computer systems to make the
changes needed to get in compliance.
“Getting large institutions to change
regulations means significant leadership,” said
Smith. “Democracy works better when people
do it.”
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Can You See Me Now? (Part 1)
Reflections on Triestine
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COMMUNITY STORE
Sarah Farahat
July 16th-August 13th, 2011
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Opening Reception: July 16th 6-9pm
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All Events arc FR E E & O PE N to the Public
(Doors open at 6:30pm and events begin promptly at 7pm)
July 20th
J o u rn a lism a n d N o w M ed ia
in th e M id d le E a st:
Lecture and Discussion with
Stanford Fellow Jenka Soderburg
and Palestinian Journalist
SaedB annoura
*
July 30th
First H and:
' A Night o f Storytelling from the
W est Bank and Gaza
August 2nd
SIrhgsAof //ip H op:
A Free Film Screening for Youth
with discussion following
August 3rd
F rom South A frica to P alestine:
The Shaping o f a M o vem en t
through B oycott, D ivestm en t
a n d Sanctions: Portland Activists
discuss their past and present work
August 11th
To th e L an d o f O z * a n d
B ack Again: a conversation
with the artist
The Settlement @ Pioneer Place Mall (3rd floor)
700 SW 5th Ave, PDX, OR 97204
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