Abstract
This chapter examines the first major area of reform suggested in the PCEA’s report: voter registration. From diverse registration regulations across states to the multiple methods of getting registered, voter registration can be a complex process and is generally regarded as one of the most symbolic barriers to voting. It is at the critical intersection of the competing values of integrity and access. In this chapter, I explore many ways in which legislators, administrators, and third parties have attempted to reform the voter registration process and voter roll maintenance—and the consequences of these attempts—particularly on turnout.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsWorks Cited
Alvarez, R. Michael, and Thad E. Hall. 2009. “Resolving Voter Registration Problems: Making Registration Easier, Less Costly and More Accurate.” Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project Working Paper 87.
Associated Press. 2004. “Florida Won’t Use Flawed Felon List for Fall Election.” The New York Times Online, July 11. https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/11/us/florida-won-t-use-flawed-felon-list-for-fall-election.html. Accessed March 30, 2018.
Bauer, Robert F., Benjamin L. Ginsberg, Brian Britton, Joe Echevarria, Trey Grayson, Larry Lomax, Michele Coleman Mayes, Ann McGeehan, Tammy Patrick, Christopher Thomas, and Nathaniel Persily. 2014. The American Voting Experience: Report and Recommendations of the Presidential Commission on Election Administration. Washington, DC: Presidential Commission on Election Administration.
Bingham, Amy. 2012. “9 Florida Counties Report Faked Voter Registration Forms from GOP-Backed Firm.” ABC News Online, October 2.
Bousquet, Steve. 2014. “Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s 2012 Voter Purge Violated Federal Law, Court Rules.” Tampa Bay Times, April 1. http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/appeals-court-rules-florida-voter-purge-violated-federal-law/2173054. Accessed July 7, 2018.
Brater, Jonathan. 2013. “Virginia Offers Lessons for Voter List Maintenance.” Brennan Center for Justice. https://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/virginia-offers-lessons-voter-list-maintenance. Accessed November 15, 2017.
Brennan Center for Justice. 2016. “Election 2016: Restrictive Voting Laws by the Numbers.” September 28. https://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/election-2016-restrictive-voting-laws-numbers#raceandvoting. Accessed July 17, 2018.
Brennan Center for Justice. 2018. “Automatic Voter Registration.” https://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/automatic-voter-registration. Accessed August 25, 2018.
Brown, Robbie. 2012. “Florida’s Approach to Purging Voter Rolls of Noncitizens Prompts Federal Lawsuit.” The New York Times, June 12. https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/13/us/justice-department-sues-florida-over-voter-purge.html. Accessed July 7, 2018.
Burden, Barry C., David T. Canon, Kenneth R. Mayer, and Donald P. Moynihan. 2014. “Election Laws, Mobilization, and Turnout: The Unanticipated Consequences of Election Reform.” American Journal of Political Science 58, no. 1: 95–109.
Burd-Sharps, Sarah, and Patrick Nolan Guyer. 2015. “The Costs of Modernizing Voter Registration Systems. A Case Study of California and Arizona.” ACLU.org. https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/field_document/022415-aclu-voterregcostsonline_0.pdf. Accessed November 22, 2017.
Chokshi, Niraj. 2016. “Automatic Voter Registration a ‘Success’ in Oregon.” New York Times, December 2. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/02/us/politics/oregon-voter-registration.html. Accessed November 22, 2017.
Chuang, Aileen. 2018. “Federal Judge Blocks Indiana Voter Registration Law.” Midland Daily News, June 11. https://www.ourmidland.com/news/article/Federal-judge-blocks-Indiana-voter-registration-12984452.php. Accessed June 11, 2018.
Democracy Fund. 2016. “Progress Report on the Presidential Commission on Election Administration.” http://www.democracyfund.org/media/uploaded/Progress_Report_on_the_PCEA_September_2016.pdf. Accessed October 29, 2017.
DeSilver, Drew. 2017. “US Voter Turnout Trails Most Developed Countries.” Pew Research Center Election Assistance Commission. Election Administration & Voting Survey.
Downs, Anthony. 1957. An Economic Theory of Democracy. New York: Harper & Row.
Farrell, Michael B. 2010. “Funding Gone, Scandal-Plagued ACORN to Disband.” CS Monitor, October 23. Accessed November 13, 2017.
Friedersdorf, Conor. 2015. “Op-Ed: The Merits of Universal Voter Registration.” The Los Angeles Times, June 17. http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-0617-friedersdorf-universal-registration-20150617-story.html. Accessed November 22, 2017.
Groarke, Margaret. 2016. “The Impact of Voter Fraud Claims on Voter Registration Reform Legislation.” Political Science Quarterly 131, no. 3: 571–596.
Hasen, Richard L. 2005. “Beyond the Margin of Litigation: Reforming US Election Administration to Avoid Electoral Meltdown.” Washington & Lee Law Review 62: 937.
Heath, Amy. 2017. “Cruel and Unusual Punishment: Denying Ex-Felons the Right to Vote After Serving Their Sentences.” American University Journal of Gender Social Policy & the Law 25: 327.
Ihrke, David. 2017. “United States Mover Rate at a New Record Low.” Census.gov, January 23. https://www.census.gov/newsroom/blogs/random-samplings/2017/01/mover-rate.html. Accessed August 25, 2018.
Ingraham, Christopher. 2017. “This Anti-Voter-Fraud Program Gets It Wrong Over 99% of the Time. The GOP Wants It Nationwide.” The Washington Post, July 20. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/07/20/this-anti-voter-fraud-program-gets-it-wrong-over-99-of-the-time-the-gop-wants-to-take-it-nationwide/?utm_term=.48522d368e94. Accessed November 22, 2017.
Jackson, Tara A. 2017. “Dilution of the Black Vote: Revisiting the Oppressive Methods of Voting Rights Restoration for Ex-Felons.” University of Miami Race & Social Justice Law Review 7: 297.
Judicial Watch. 2017. “Judicial Watch Warns California to Clean Voter Registration Lists or Face Federal Lawsuit.” https://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-warns-california-clean-voter-registration-lists-face-federal-lawsuit/. Accessed November 22, 2017.
Kamp, Jon, and Arian Campo-Flores. 2017. “Advocates Push to Get Florida Ex-Felons the Right to Vote.” Wall Street Journal, December 10. https://www.wsj.com/articles/advocates-push-to-get-florida-ex-felons-the-right-to-vote-1512907201. Accessed July 7, 2018.
Kasdan, Diana. 2012. “State Restrictions on Voter Registration Drives.” Brennan Center for Justice.
League of Women Voters. 2015. “Permanent Portable Statewide Voter Registration.” http://forum.lwv.org/sites/default/files/permanent_portable_vr_final.pdf. Accessed November 21, 2017.
Levy, Pema. 2018. “Judge Strikes Down Felon Disenfranchisement System in Florida.” Mother Jones, February 1. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/02/judge-strikes-down-felon-disenfranchisement-system-in-florida/. Accessed November 17, 2017.
Lopez, Tomas, and Jennifer L. Clark. 2017. “Uncovering Kris Kobach’s Anti-Voting History.” Brennan Center for Justice. https://www.brennancenter.org/blog/uncovering-kris-kobach%E2%80%99s-anti-voting-history. Accessed November 17, 2017.
National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). 2012. “Voter List Maintenance: Why, How and When.” The Canvass: States and Election Reform, July/August.
Palast, Greg. 2016. “The GOP’s Stealth War Against Voters.” Rolling Stone, August 24. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/the-gops-stealth-war-against-voters-w435890. Accessed November 17, 2017.
Pérez, Myrna. 2008. “Voter Purges.” Brennan Center for Justice, September 30. https://www.brennancenter.org/publication/voter-purges. Accessed November 28, 2017.
Pérez, Myrna. 2012. “Florida Should Avoid Misdeeds of the Past.” Brennan Center for Justice, May 21. https://www.brennancenter.org/blog/florida-should-avoid-misdeeds-past. Accessed November 28, 2017.
Pickett, Alex. 2018. “Success of Fight to Restore Felon Voting Rights Far from Assured.” Courthouse News, June 1. https://www.courthousenews.com/success-of-fight-to-restore-felon-voting-rights-far-from-assured/. Accessed June 8, 2018.
Rohrer, Gray. 2018. “Federal Court Strikes Down Florida’s System for Restoring Felons’ Voting Rights.” Orlando Sentinel, February 1. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/political-pulse/os-felon-rights-ruling-20180201-story.html. Accessed August 26, 2018.
Sago, Renata. 2015. “Ex-Felons Fight to Restore Their Right to Vote.” National Public Radio Online, December 11. https://www.npr.org/2015/12/11/459365215/ex-felons-fight-to-restore-their-right-to-vote. Accessed March 28, 2018.
Stuart, Guy. 2004. “Databases, Felons, and Voting: Bias and Partisanship of the Florida Felons List in the 2000 Elections.” Political Science Quarterly 119, no. 3: 453–475.
Tokaji, Daniel P. 2008. “Voter Registration and Election Reform.” William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal 17: 453.
United States Election Assistance Commission. 2017. “The Election Administration and Voting Survey 2016 Comprehensive Report: A Report to the 115th Congress.” https://www.eac.gov/assets/1/6/2016_EAVS_Comprehensive_Report.pdf. Accessed December 22, 2017.
Von Spakovsky, Hans. 2013. “Mandatory Voter Registration: How Universal Registration Threatens Electoral Integrity.” The Heritage Foundation, March 27. http://www.heritage.org/report/mandatory-voter-registration-how-universal-registration-threatens-electoral-integrity. Accessed November 17, 2017.
Wagner, Peter, and Wendy Sawyer. 2018. “Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2018.” Prison Policy Initiative, March 14. https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2018.html. Accessed March 30, 2018.
Wood, Erika. 2016. “Florida: An Outlier in Denying Voting Rights.” Brennan Center for Justice. https://www.brennancenter.org/publication/florida-outlier-denying-voting-rights. Accessed June 6, 2018.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Tran, D.S. (2019). Voter Registration. In: Unrigging American Elections. Elections, Voting, Technology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03547-1_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03547-1_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-03546-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-03547-1
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)