NEW JERSEY TO PRESS FORWARD WITH MOTOR VOTER IMPLEMENTATION

MVC, Division of Elections reach accord with NJ Public Advocate to increase voter registration at motor vehicle offices

TRENTON – Voter registration opportunities for New Jersey residents will be dramatically expanded as the state moves to fully implement the federal “motor voter” law, which requires the state Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) to link voter registration with motor vehicle transactions, New Jersey Public Advocate Ronald K. Chen and Attorney General Anne M. Milgram announced today.

Officials from the State MVC and the Department of Law and Public Safety (LPS) Division of Elections have pledged to take specific affirmative actions to comply with the motor voter provisions of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) as part of an agreement signed this week with the Department of the Public Advocate.

Read National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) Memorandum of Understanding

The NVRA was passed by Congress in 1993 and requires motor vehicle agencies to offer citizens an expedited and easy opportunity to register to vote when they obtain or renew a driver’s license or non-driver identification card. Likewise, address changes submitted to motor vehicle agencies are supposed to trigger automatic updates to the voter rolls.

“With motor voter law compliance greatly improved, citizens should find it easier to participate in the democratic process,” said Chen, who has focused on voting rights for disenfranchised populations during his tenure as Public Advocate. “I commend our partners at the MVC and the Department of Law and Public Safety for making this important issue a priority.”

“Ease of voter registration is critical to full and fair participation in elections,” Attorney General Milgram said. “Improving MVC's operations in the voter registration area was a priority for my office and the Division of Elections and we are confident that the inter-agency collaboration that led to this agreement will benefit all New Jersey citizens.”

New Jersey Secretary of State Nina Mitchell Wells, whose Department will assume oversight of the Division of Elections on April 1, 2008, said “I am committed to working with the Public Advocate and the Motor Vehicle Commission to streamline this registration process and ensure public confidence in the reliability and integrity of election procedures.”

Under this agreement, the MVC agents will hand “short form” voter registration applications to all customers; collect and forward completed forms from those who choose to register; post signs informing the public about their right to register at MVC agencies; and train MVC employees about these obligations.

In addition, the MVC and the Division of Elections will make sure that address changes made at the MVC are transferred to the appropriate election databases and will reach out to former MVC customers who are not registered to vote to offer them a chance to register. To ensure compliance with the commitment, the MVC will conduct random compliance inspections at MVC offices and will post compliance rates on its website.

The Department of the Public Advocate began examining the state’s compliance with the federal motor voter law in late 2006 after receiving complaints from voting rights advocates. The Public Advocate was able to verify gaps in New Jersey’s motor voter implementation by working with the MVC to review its practices and analyzing federal voter registration studies.

In February 2007, the Public Advocate sent personnel to 11 MVC agencies throughout New Jersey to survey customers whose just-completed transactions at MVC should have triggered motor voter activities. However, out of 494 individuals surveyed, only eight percent said they were offered the opportunity to register to vote.

These findings mirror those of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC), which has consistently ranked New Jersey close to last compared to other states in the percentage of registrations conducted at motor vehicle agencies. On average, motor vehicle offices accounted for half of all new voter registrations nationwide in 2005 and 2006. However, in New Jersey, the MVC accounted for only 92,890 of the 808,794 total new voter registration applications submitted in the State, or about 11 percent.

“To their credit, when presented with these findings, our partners at MVC and LPS were eager to develop a solution that would expand voter registration opportunities for New Jersey citizens,” said Chen. There are about one million New Jersey residents who are eligible to vote but are not registered.

The agreement announced today is part of a joint effort by the parties involved to achieve much higher registration rates at MVC with the goal of exceeding the national average.

Under Chen’s leadership, the Department of the Public Advocate continues to be involved in several voting rights initiatives including ensuring that polling places are accessible to senior citizens and people with disabilities; examining voting machine reliability, usability, accessibility, security and cost; and assisting citizens who are wrongly turned away from the polls on Election Day.

Click here for more information on DPA voting rights activites.

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