Nonprofits Need to Increase Their Roles This Election Season

Low turnout among young voters is often ascribed to apathy, but part of the problem is the barriers young people face when casting ballots or trying to work at the polls.A Caltech/MIT study [1] concluded that 4 million to 6 million votes were lost nationwide in the 2000 election. Half of these were traced to registration problems. Nonprofits can help remove these barriers.

This November promises a close presidential election. New laws enacted in the wake of the 2000 serves to prompt more college students to vote in their school's community, however, concern is rising over whether they will be turned away.

Recently, many students have been denied the right to register in their college communities. Reports from Arizona, Texas, Delaware, Michigan, New York and other states range from confusion over college students' right to vote in their campus communities to outright denial of the right to register there. Some communities have required questionnaires -- struck down by courts under equal protection laws -- that ask where prospective voters keep most of their possessions, or where they would go if kicked out of school. Additionally, some officials have said state financial aid might be threatened if a student attending school out of state registers to vote on campus.

Much of the problem centers around the language of the federal Help America Vote Act [2]. HAVA allows for the use of valid photo identification, however, the interpretation of that is left to the states. There are other complications to registering to vote. In 1979, the Supreme Court ruled that students can vote where they attend school if they establish residency. However, in many states, what consititutes residency is often unclear. Additionally, in many states, to register to vote, you must establish a "fixed and permanent" address. Yet many young people's "fixed and permanent" address is miles away from where they spend eight months of each year. College residence generally does not qualify as "fixed and permanent" for purposes of voting, since it does not demonstrate intent to establish residency.

These same issues serve to deny students the ability to serve as poll workers, a critical problem in the up coming election.

Residency issues also often prohibit students from becoming poll workers. Many states require that poll workers be registered in the state, which is a problem for many students. This is especially crucial at a time where Election Boards are warning of poll worker shortages. Election boards around the country are hoping to attract enough workers to fully staff all their county’s precincts to help with the heavy voter turnout this election.

Even among older Americans, the new regulations are keeping traditional poll workers away on Election Day. Post-primary election telephone surveys to precinct Inspectors and analysis of poll worker training class attendance statistics revealed that a significant number of poll worker cancellations were due to poll worker concerns that they would be unable to answer voters' questions about the unfamiliar new election rules.

Election administrators across the country are scrambling to find enough poll workers for the Nov. 2 presidential election. Federal election officials say the United States is 500,000 people short of the 2 million poll workers needed to run a national election.

Not having enough poll workers can force a polling place to close or lead to delays at the voting booth, which election officials say could prevent some people from voting.

Additionally, the average U.S. poll worker is 72 years old, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Most poll workers are retired and easily can spend the day at a polling place. Election officials say Baby Boomers and their children do not feel the same sense of civic duty as the World War II generation. Without that, they say, the job is not very attractive.

Congress passed the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) in 2002 to assist the states in resolving many of these issues. It established the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to "act as a clearinghouse for election information, make recommendations about technology and other issues and distribute $2.3 billion to states for new voting machines. One of their duties is to oversee implementation of HAVA, including the College program. The program was created to encourage students enrolled at institutions of higher education to assist in local election administration by serving as poll workers.

However, the EAC has not been adequately funded by Congress and many students are not getting the help they need. The EAC has been slow to move and plagued by funding problems. On Sept. 13, the EAC suggested that it might not have enough money to monitor the upcoming Nov. 2 election.

Under the continuing appropriations resolution, passed Sept. 29, Congress provides only approximately $500,000.00 in the period from Oct. 1 though the end of the year. According to EAC Vice Chair Gracia Hillman, the EAC needs $3.5 million during that period.

The EAC has already stated that the shortage of money for federal election reform efforts have forced the commission to curtail plans for new research on voting issues and assistance to local election officials recruit desperately needed poll workers.

Nonprofits can provide a critical public service by taking steps to increase both voter turnout and participation. Voting gives students a voice in our democracy, but participation ensures there will be a democracy to vote in. Many nonprofits are dedicated to increasing the number of voters, but have not taken effective action to resolve the problems that young voters are facing.

Nonprofits can play a role in this issue in many ways. They can help serve as a voice for the students that have had problems registering to vote. For example, Luther Lowe, a student at William and Mary, was denied the ability to register because he was not a permanent resident. The Virginia chapter of the ACLU challenged the denial in both state circuit and federal court. Additionally, nonprofits can make efforts to help resolve many of the registration problems young people are encountering. Groups such as the New York Public Interest Research Group has begun a drive throughout the State University of New York's 64 campuses to enroll far more students before Nov. 2. Colleges are also getting more involved. The State University of New York has registered almost 5,000 students to vote since September 6.

Nonprofits need to continue and expand on the role they have taken this election. For information on how your group can help see NPAction's Nonprofits Can Help America Vote! [3] website.