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U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Announces Briefing On Increasing Compliance With Section 7 Of The National Voter Registration Act

The United States Commission on Civil Rights announces that it will conduct a briefing to examine efforts to increase compliance with Section 7 of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). The briefing will take place on Friday, April 19, 2013 at 9:30 a.m. ET at the Commission’s headquarters: 1331 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 1150, Washington, DC 20425. Please note that the offices are accessed on F Street NW. Interested members of the public are invited to attend.

In 1993, Congress passed the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) to “increase the number of eligible citizens who register to vote in elections for Federal office” and “protect the integrity of the electoral process.” Section 7 of the NVRA specifically aids this mission by requiring that state-designated public assistance offices and state offices serving persons with disabilities serve as voter registration agencies.

The discussion will include recent efforts to increase enforcement of NVRA Section 7 requirements. In recent years, litigation undertaken by the Department of Justice and private persons has settled and as a result, voter registration numbers increased in some states. Other states have pushed back on the federal requirements, however, citing substantial burdens on local public assistance offices.

There will be four speakers. They are R. Kyle Ardoin, First Assistant Secretary of State for Louisiana; Gary O. Bartlett, Executive Director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections; Lisa Danetz, DEMOS Senior Counsel; and Jason Torchinsky, litigation partner at Holtzman Vogel PLLC.

Written comments from the public will be accepted by email until COB May 19, 2013. Public comments received will become part of the public record. Deaf or hearing-impaired persons who will attend the meeting and require the services of a sign language interpreter should contact Pam Dunston at (202) 376-8105 at least seven business days prior to the briefing.