National Voter R Registration Act: Public Assista Public Assista - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

National Voter R Registration Act: Public Assista Public Assista ance Agencies ance Agencies Jonathan Stein | Vot ting Rights Attorney jstein@ac cluca.org

Why voter re Why voter re egistration? egistration? California ranks 45 th in its vote k 45 th i it C lif i t er registration rate among i t ti t eligible voters. There are 5.8 million unregiste ered eligible California voters. People with low incomes and p p people disabilities have lower p voter registration rates and low wer voting rates. Offices like yours are uniquely Offices like yours are uniquely y situated to register voter y situated to register voter. Average monthly voter registra ations at public assistance agencies are up 476% from 20 009.

SB 35 Took Effect t January 1, 2013: y , Makes Tracking by Site Possible E Each “NVRA agency” must report t h “NVRA ” t t t the location of each office or site th l ti f h ffi it that provides voter registration ser rvices to the county elections office • This is your responsibility, not the co • This is your responsibility not the co unty elections office s responsibility. unty elections office’s responsibility NVRA agencies must order their vo oter registration cards from county elections officials only . elections officials only County elections offices track the n number of voter registrations received from each NVRA office or received from each NVRA office or r site r site. County elections officials send mo nthly reports of the number of registrations to the Secretary of Sta registrations to the Secretary of Sta ate which are then posted online ate, which are then posted online.

To see e your agency’s report, visit: www.sos. .ca.gov/elections/nvra/reports/ / l ti / / t /

Choose the SB 35 report

You Can Check to See How Many V Voters Your Office Registered Each Mo nth Number of vot registrations in i t ti i November P bli A i t Public Assistance Select your offices in the county county

Compliance Con p ncerns at Public Assistanc ce Offices here are 650 WIC sites in California. h 650 WIC it i C lif i . Only 125 appear in the November Onl 125 i th N b 5 reports. nly 41 WIC sites had a recorded vot nly 41 WIC sites had a recorded vot ter registration in November. ter registration in November here are 200 county welfare office s sites appearing in the November SB eports. Only 120 sites reported a vo p y p oter registration. 21 counties had 0 g egistrations at county welfare office es. here are only 11 counties with at le ast 1 IHSS office appearing in the ovember SB 35 reports. b nly 4 counties had a recorded voter r registration at an IHSS site in ovember. ovember

September Regist trations at Offices Primarily Serving Peo P i il S i P ople With Disabilities l With Di biliti Number of Number of Num Num mber of mber of Number of Number of Caseload Caseload Counties Where Count ies With Registrations Office Appears at Lea ast One Total in SB 35 Reports in SB 35 Reports Regis Regis stration stration CalFRESH y Welfare 58 37 2,818 , Application pp s received: 174 me Supportive 221,991 partici 11 11 4 4 11 11 es Offices Offi (A (August, 201 201 Average mon ffices ffices 44 44 25 25 115 115 participation participation 2013: 1.43 mi

Problems wit Problems wit th the report? th the report? C Contact your county elections l i office to see if they are ffi if h tracking your voter registration n cards. Make sure your county electio ons official tracks by site . They should know where each of yo our office’s sites are, and the voter registrations card serial n i i d i l numbers at each site. b h i Let your county elections offic cial know who your office’s NVRA coordinator is. Establish a relationship!

Other Best P Other Best P Practices Practices If If someone indicates on the voter i di t th t pref. form that she wishes to f f th t h i h t register, do not send her home wit th a VRC. Fill the VRC out right then and there. Adults applying on behalf of childr en also MUST receive voter registration services. Develop written NVRA procedures for your office. Mail completed cards daily. p y Make sure clients know that they m must reregister when they move or change their name, to avoid proble ems on Election Day. Can’t discourage, but can encourag ge.

Language Req Language Req quirements quirements Th f d The federal Voting Rights Act deter l V ti Ri ht A t d t rmines the languages in which you i th l i hi h are required to have voter registra tion materials. • Ask your county elections office abou Ask your county elections office abou ut your language requirements. ut your language requirements. Voter registration cards: • Available in all required languages fro om county elections office. Voter preference forms: • Available in all required languages on n SOS website. You must print. Need a language other than one of f your required languages? Check the SOS website.

Quest Quest tions? tions? Raúl Macías | Votin ng Rights Advocate rmacias@a rmacias@a acluca org acluca.org 916 442 10 916.442.10 36 36 ext. 305 t 305