Brennan Center for Justice: Motor Voter Failures Demonstrate Need for Reform in Maryland

"Twenty-five percent of citizens who attempted to register to vote at Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) offices in Maryland in the past four years were not properly added to the voting rolls, the Baltimore Sun reported last week.  During that period, 120,000 citizens who submitted change-of-address information at the MVA did not have their voting records updated.  And alarmingly, officials at the Maryland State Board of Elections told the Sun that about 622,165 Maryland residents who are qualified to vote are not registered to do so.Such obvious failures to register voters violate the letter and spirit of federal law.  The National Voter Registration Act (also known as the "Motor Voter law"), among its many provisions, requires that states offer voter registration opportunities to eligible citizens who apply for driver’s licenses or come in to update their information at licensing agencies.
Rather than working toward more effective compliance with federal law, officials at the MVA have tried to justify their failures by pointing fingers at the poorly served voters themselves.  As the Sun reports, the MVA blamed motorists, who they say often tell clerks that they want to register to vote, but then fail to follow through by signing and returning the necessary forms.  Never mind the fact that federal law requires the state to update voter records based on change of address information submitted to the MVA regardless of whether the voter signs or submits any form. ...
Rather than displacing the fault on voters, Maryland should use this opportunity to achieve productive change and automate its voter registration system at the MVA.  As we detail in our report, Voter Registration in a Digital Age, many states have already automated their registration systems at motor vehicle offices.  Paperless registration in these states has proven to be cost-effective, more accurate, and increase registration rates. ...
Maryland’s MVA officials should have a conversation with their neighbors in Delaware to discuss ways to remedy its flawed registration system, as the Baltimore Sun, the NAACP, and the former chief of the U.S. Justice Department’s Voting Section have all urged.  The Brennan Center is also available for technical support.  For more information on voter registration modernization, please click here."

The entire article, without commenting, is at http://www.brennancenter.org/blog/archives/motor_voter_failures_demonstrate_need_for_reform_in_maryland/

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