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Webinar: How to make sure your vote counts
Webinar rewind: How to make sure your vote counts
With legal fights over the election being waged across the country and disinformation clouding the truth about voting systems, Americans can be forgiven for their confusion about how to cast a ballot this fall. Because each state sets its own rules — for registering, getting and returning vote-by-mail ballots, timetables for balloting in person and so many other things — keeping it all straight can be difficult for both voting rights advocates and individual voters.
<p>The Fulcrum hosted a live discussion in which we discussed the realities of voting during the coronavirus pandemic and resources that you can share with friends and family.</p><p>The discussion was moderated by The Fulcrum's editor-in-chief, David Hawkings, and featured:</p><ul class="ee-ul"></ul><ul class="ee-ul"><li><strong>David Levine</strong>, elections integrity fellow, Alliance for Securing Democracy</li><li><strong>Jack Noland</strong>, research manager, RepresentUs</li><li><strong>Eliza Sweren-Becker</strong>, Democracy Program counsel, Brennan Center for Justice</li></ul>
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Caroline Brehman/Getty Images
Many states have seen voter registration rates plummet due to Covid-19.
Voter Registration Day combats a sharp decline in signups thanks to Covid
Tuesday marks six weeks until Election Day and is National Voter Registration Day, a moment to turbocharge sign-ups before it's too late. But the significant blow the coronavirus has dealt to civic engagement this year leaves in doubt how many millions of eligible but still unregistered Americans can be found and converted on the unofficial holiday.
Fresh national numbers from the Brennan Center for Justice, a progressive think tank which does some of the most extensive research on democracy's challenges, confirm the drop in registration compared to the last presidential election. The organization's analysis of 21 states found 17 have watched registration rates plummet since four year ago.
With the first deadlines coming the first week of October in 15 states, a bevy of groups with sometimes similar sounding names have refocused — or been formed — to push the uphill goal of finding millions more willing first-time voters, with an emphasis on younger people.
<p>The <a href="https://thefulcrum.us/directory/brennan-center-for-justice" target="_self">Brennan Center</a> analyzed records of the 21 states that compile monthly registration data to compare how sign-ups are trending this year compared to 2016. </p><p><p style="text-align: center;" id="sufn"><a style="font-weight: bold;margin:40px auto;font-size:2rem" href="https://thefulcrum.us/st/newsletters">Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter </a></p></p><p>The most severe drops, 87 percent, were in reliably blue Maryland and Oregon. Battleground Wisconsin had the smallest dip in registration, just 2 percent. The average decline among the states was a whopping 38 percent.</p>
<p>Just four states have seen increases in the past two years compared with the runup to 2016. </p><p>Another presidential tossup, Michigan, has seen a 23 percent boost in registrations. The others are reliably Republican Alaska (an astonishing 85 percent), Utah (31 percent) and Idaho (5 percent).</p>
<p>While it's not obvious why some states saw more success in registration than others, Covid-19 has certainly <a href="https://thefulcrum.us/voting/coronavirus-impact-on-voter-registration" target="_self">impacted the ability of many Americans to register</a> this year. All but nine states offer online registration, which has been helpful at a time when in-person "get out the vote" events are not feasible.</p>
<p>Since the start of the pandemic in March, civic engagement groups have had to switch to a more digital approach for voter outreach. On <a href="https://nationalvoterregistrationday.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">National Voter Registration Day</a>, these groups largely used social media, text and email blasts, virtual events and other online efforts to promote election participation.</p>
<p><a href="https://thefulcrum.us/representus" target="_self">RepresentUs</a>, one of the most prominent political reform advocacy groups, is hosting a <a href="https://unrigsummit.com/unrig-roundtable/?akid=109075.775301.eS87JW&rd=1&t=3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">virtual roundtable</a> Tuesday night with activists and celebrities discussing issues of democracy and racial justice. <a href="https://thefulcrum.us/when-we-all-vote" target="_self">When We All Vote</a>, a progressive voter engagement group, is hosting an <a href="https://www.whenweallvote.org/voteready/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">all-day event on Instagram</a>, featuring former first lady Michelle Obama.</p>
<p>Efforts to uplift the youth vote are also being made. Student PIRGs is enlisting its volunteers on more than 100 college campuses nationwide to help with outreach for its <a href="https://studentpirgs.org/campaigns/new-voters-project/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">New Voters Project</a>. The Alliance for Youth Action is supporting voter engagement efforts on more than 400 campuses through its <a href="https://allianceforyouthorganizing.org/campus-takeover/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Campus Takeover</a> campaign.</p>
<p>Social media platforms have been involved in boosting voter registration as well. Facebook and Instagram <a href="https://thefulcrum.us/voting/facebook-voting-information-center" target="_self">launched a voter resource tool</a> last month, and Twitter has promoted registration with the #VoteReady hashtag and other messaging on the platform. Users are also encouraged to share voting resources with friends and family to help increase participation.</p>
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Joseph Sohm/Getty Images
Tuesday is National Voter Registration Day.
Let’s help millions escape from voter registration limbo
Miller is executive director of Nonprofit VOTE, which works to help other nonprofits across the nation boost civic engagement and voter turnout among their allies.
<p>Since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, we've seen a collapse in the number of voter registrations collected or updated because government offices were shuttered and in-person campaigns to find and sign up new voters were put on hold. </p>
<p>We're talking about millions of non-registrations here. It's not a small number. And as the pandemic has persisted the problem has been compounded by the large-scale displacement of people who have had to move, not only the millions in struggling families facing evictions because of the economic downturn but also the millions of students who've moved back home since their universities went fully virtual.</p><p>Election Day is in just six weeks. So what do we do to ease this urgent challenge to our democracy?</p><p>First and foremost, we need to make sure as many Americans as possible can register, or update their registration to reflect their current address, before their states' deadlines. </p><p><p style="text-align: center;" id="sufn"><a style="font-weight: bold;margin:40px auto;font-size:2rem" href="https://thefulcrum.us/st/newsletters">Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter </a></p></p><p>This is absolutely essential for voters who wish to take advantage of this year's wave of expanded availability of voting by mail. There is no way to receive an absentee ballot — or in many states even an application to vote remotely — if it's sent to your old mailing address and the Postal Service knows you don't live there. </p><p>Today is National Voter Registration Day — a major rallying call to register voters across the nation, which they can do on the <a href="https://nationalvoterregistrationday.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">National Voter Registration Day website</a>. Started in 2012, it acts as a coordinated day of action between national and local organizations both executing live (and virtual) voter registration events and promoting the importance of being #VoteReady for the November election.</p><p>The deadlines for new registrations vary by state. None are in September, but 15 states <a href="https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/voter-registration-deadlines.aspx" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">have cutoffs</a> during the first week of October and 11 more will stop signups a week after that.</p>
<p>The good news is that <a href="https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/same-day-registration.aspx" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">19 states and Washington, D.C.</a> are allowing same-day registration this year — meaning eligible people can show up at a place that allows in-person early voting, or to local polling places on Election Day, sign up to vote (or update their registration) and then immediately proceed to cast a ballot. The only downside, this time, is this option means an in-person experience in the face of potential health risks.</p><p>So what about voters who are not able to update their voter registration in time for the election? In many cases, they can still exercise their right to vote if they were previously registered elsewhere and their registration is just out of date — but it gets a little more complicated.</p><p>If a voter only moves across town, or within the same congressional district, but did not update his or her voter registration, that person can still vote thanks to protections provided by a 1993 federal law. However, they will likely have to go to their former polling location or a central voting site and vote in person. Voting files are often updated in the process to reflect the new address.</p><p>Voters who move to a different congressional district within the same state will have a tougher time. There are no federal laws that guarantee their right to vote if they don't register first. Some states do in fact let you still vote, but rules vary from state to state. In these cases, it's best to contact your local elections office or call the national <a href="https://866ourvote.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Election Protection hotline</a>.</p>
<p>Finally, voters who move to a different state within 30 days of the election might find the state they just moved to has a registration deadline or residency requirement that prevents them from registering and voting there. </p>
<p>These voters are effectively cast into registration limbo — but there is a way out, in part at least. They can contact their former state's elections office to request a special ballot that will allow them to at least vote in the presidential race.</p>
<p>Again, registering to vote at one's current address is the surest way to ensure you can vote, but if you do miss the deadline, don't give up. It may take longer or require a special trip, but in many cases you can still vote.</p>
<p>With so many rules to navigate, it's important that all of us committed to a vigorous civic life — nonprofits, libraries, universities, businesses and election officials alike — help the communities we serve understand the rules. Our democracy will be stronger for it.</p>
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Voting
True
In 1963, 85 percent of eligible voters cast ballots in the city elections for Cohoes, N.Y. Last year, turnout for the city's municipal election was just 24 percent.
Lessons from a local election 57 years ago for boosting turnout now
Van Buskirk is an engineer and urban planner who has been active in politics since the 1960s. This summer he self-published "Big Mike, Uncle Dan and Me: How I Beat 20th Century New York State's Most Corrupt Political Machine."
<p>In Cohoes, the suburb of Albany, N.Y., where I grew up, 85 percent of eligible voters cast ballots in the city elections of 1963. Last year, turnout for the municipal election was just 24 percent. What was the key factor that caused this phenomenon?</p><p>The Census Bureau pegged turnout for the 2016 presidential election at 61.4 percent. In Belgium, one of the handful of developed nations where voting is compulsory, 88 percent participated in last year's national election — so perhaps that's a reasonable upper limit to expect across the United States.</p><p>But turnout in our local elections is abysmally low. Research by Jan Brennan of the National Civic League found the highest recent participation in a mayoral election was 47 percent in Bradenton, Fla. — and the lowest was 6 percent. She recommended local contests always be on even-numbered years to coincide with federal and most state contests. </p><p><p style="text-align: center;" id="sufn"><a style="font-weight: bold;margin:40px auto;font-size:2rem" href="https://thefulcrum.us/st/newsletters">Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter </a></p></p><p>Many local candidates complain their races would then be overshadowed and they could not get their messages out. Other research concludes that many local elections lack competition, which results in low turnout. And Eric Oliver, an expert on local politics at the University of Chicago, says getting people to the polls for city contests is not necessarily best if they are not informed.</p><p>One way to address low turnout is to increase the number of potential voters. And one way to do that is by allowing eligible voters with valid ID to register and vote on the same day. Research suggests the 21 states with same-day registration have consistently higher turnout.</p><p>Modest increases in turnout are also reported by the five states that, even before the pandemic, had started sending return-by-mail ballots to everyone eligible for each election. And the same goes for the 16 states that automatically register residents to vote (unless they ask to opt out) whenever they do business with the motor vehicle bureau or some other state agency that keeps identifying records on people.</p><p>Many critics claim that the easier it is to vote, the easier it is to commit voter fraud. One Gallup poll found 59 percent of people have no confidence in the honesty of our elections. At the same time, a Pew Research Center poll after the 2018 midterm found 76 percent support for requiring an ID at the polls — which many in the political establishment oppose because it discourages minority voters.</p><p>Judicial Watch, a conservative foundation, recently reported on a county clerk in Michigan altering 193 absentee ballots. Los Angeles County had 1.6 million inactive voters on its rolls two years ago. And a close Democratic primary in June for a New York City congressional seat took weeks to decide after the mail-in system was beset with problems, from the Postal Service to the Board of Elections, with over 65,000 absentee ballots eventually disqualified.</p><p>In synthesizing the research there is general agreement on the following: Voter rolls need to be accurate. They need to be regularly updated to create confidence in the election process. Local elections need to be more competitive and voters need better information on local issues. And everyone who is legally registered should be encouraged to vote.</p><p>Now, back to my hometown. </p><p>Six decades ago, its 20,000 people included almost 13,000 eligible voters. They had to be at least 21 to vote in those days and they had to pass a literacy test. They had four days in October to register to vote in the November general election.</p><p>An entrenched and corrupt political machine controlled the city government and school board, so there was limited political competition. Apathy resulted in such slogans as "My vote won't count."</p><p>I was part of the group of citizens that organized to challenge the machine at the polls. This Citizens Party solicited candidates, raised money and built a get-out-the-vote organization. And its leadership designed and implemented this strategy to optimize turnout:</p><p>First, people in all 23 precincts were assigned to assemble a file with the name, address, phone number, party affiliation and voting record of every eligible voter. City directories, telephone books, motor vehicle registrations and canvassing helped create the databases.</p><p>Next, people were identified for registration during the four-day window, using personal contact to provide would-be voters information on the issues. One targeted group was the 1,500 who had recently voted in presidential and gubernatorial contests — but not local ones. By the end of the drive, 87 percent of eligible voters were on the rolls, a record.</p><p>Then, an information campaign began. The new party got its message out by having a four-page flier, outlying the party in power's corruption, delivered to every household in the city. Other activities were rallies, canvassing of every household, a parade and letters targeting various issues for various groups.</p><p>Finally, the party arranged for 21 deputy state attorneys general to be at polling places on Election Day to ensure the integrity of the vote and challenge ineligible voters.</p><p>Thanks to all that, a record 18 of every 20 eligible voters cast a ballot — and the Cohoes Citizens Party won by 1,462 votes.</p><p>By 2019, apathy had returned with 24 percent turnout for a noncompetitive mayoral election.</p><p>Voter turnout correlates with politically competitive elections, a key factor. The more competitive the higher the correlation.</p>
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