Getting on the Rolls: Analyzing the Effects of Lowered Barriers on Voter Registration

Abstract

States and the federal government have initiated reforms designed to increase voting participation. Research has focused on the effects of these reforms-specifically, the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA)-on voter turnout, but little research has focused directly on voter registration. Moving beyond the question of whether the NVRA increased registration, we ask: Did its implementation diminish the influence of core demographic variables on registration, producing a more representative pool of registered citizens? Relying on data from Current Population Surveys, our analyses provide limited affirmative support. The NVRA attenuated the influence of income in the states with no previous Motor Voter laws. It also reduced the on-year influence of age and the off-year influence of residential stability in these states and those that had prior passive Motor Voter laws. It did not have a similar effect on the influence of other core characteristics.

The Changing Nature … and Costs … of Election Administration

“…While online registration appears attractive for these reasons, its ultimate impact on cost has yet to be determined. One reason is that more convenient registration is likely to increase the number of registrants without proportionally increasing the number of votes (Brown and Wedeking 2006; Rugeley and Jackson 2009). More registration is a desirable outcome, but it could increase the total cost of registration even as the cost per registrant goes down.…”

Expanding voter registration to clinical settings to improve health equity

“…Statewide initiatives with similar goals of expanding the electorate also exist, including laws in 23 states for automatic voter registration (AVR) for residents who interact with the DMV. 15 These efforts are a step in the right direction, yet research consistently shows the NVRA did not dramatically expand or diversify the electorate 16 and may have even exacerbated inequalities. 17 One reason for the relative failure of the NVRA is the lack of compliance of Section 7, which as we noted above, requires public assistance agencies to provide voter registration services to every person applying for or renewing government benefits.…”

Race, Poverty, and the Redistribution of Voting Rights

“…Hill () found that the NVRA was associated with reductions in the socioeconomic skew of the electorate. Rugeley and Jackson (, pp. 56, 71) found that the NVRA “attenuated the influence of income in states with no previous Motor Voter Laws” and that it made “noteworthy, but overall marginal, strides in the effort to produce a more diverse pool of registered citizens.” Today, scholars agree on at least this: The NVRA did not dramatically expand the size of low‐income electoral constituencies.…”