Agencies urged to join voter registration campaign

By Dina M. Carreras, MSW, NY Nonprofit Coordinator, Human SERVE, with contributions from the staff of Human SERVE
(June/July 1995)

America is now experiencing the greatest surge in voter registration in its history, but nonprofit human service agencies are being left out of the loop.

Drivers are being registered at Departments of Motor Vehicles. Public assistance recipients are being registered at AFDC, food stamps, Medicaid and WIC offices. The Christian Right is registering its congregations at churches. The National Rifle Association is registering its 3.5 million members. But day care centers, settlement houses, child welfare offices, family planning clinics, agencies serving the disabled, and other human service agencies haven't taken the opportunity to register their clients. This is particularly important at a time when services to families, children, the elderly and women are begin slashed, and it is especially damaging that many of the people hardest hit by the cuts are not registered to vote.

There are nearly two million unregistered eligible voters in New York City. This means that New York City residents have less influence than they should in statewide political races. It also means that New York City has less bargaining power in negotiations with New York State government over the allocation of resources.

The voter registration crisis in New York city is exacerbated by the fact that people of higher and lower income levels are being registered at disproportionate levels. The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 requires that all applicants in Departments of Motor Vehicles and public assistance agencies are offered voter registration services. Due to New York City's expansive mass transit system, 50% of the city's residents do not drive and will not be registered in DMVs. Many low income people neither hold driver's licenses nor receive public assistance.

Nonprofit human service agencies can register thousands of clients by offering voter registration as a nonpartisan public service at intake reception desks. This important programming can empower clients at a time when the American social and political environment is alienating them.

Once clients are registered, many will vote. Studies have shown that 70% of the people who were registered to vote by volunteer canvassers in welfare and food stamp offices actually went to the polls in presidential elections. By being registered, clients are incorporated into the political process. Their votes are profoundly meaningful, as illustrated by the results of the 1994 election -- 13 Congressional races were decided by less than 20,000 votes. And the two million unregistered voters of New York City certainly would have affected the gubernatorial race which was decided by only 185,000 votes. The 1994 election results reflect sharp differences in registration and turnout: one side registered its supporters and got them to the polls, the other side did not.

Fortunately, registering voters in private human service agencies is simple, legal, and virtually cost free. Human SERVE, a voter registration reform organization founded by Richard A. Cloward and Frances Fox Piven, has undertaken a project called Enfranchise New York to encourage human service agencies to make voter registration a routine public service.

To start registering voters in your agency, follow these four easy steps:

1. Agency forms and procedures should be amended to include the question, "If you are not registered to vote where you now live would you like to register here today?" Until it is possible to redesign intake forms, rubber stamps with this question are available for $5.00 from Human SERVE, phone (212) 854-4053, fax (212) 854-8727.

2. Appoint one person to coordinate voter registration activities. This person should oversee amending the agency forms, and ensure that the agency has an adequate supply of state mail-in voter registration forms at all times. Forms can be obtained from the Board of Elections.

3. Always offer to help the client complete the voter registration form. Check to be sure the application is properly filled out, and offer to mail it to the appropriate elections office. (For your own record you may wish to maintain a record of how many people register to vote through your agency.)

4. Obtain answers to commonly asked questions from your local or state elections office. For example, How will I know if I'm registered? Where do I vote? How do I get an absentee ballot? Do I need an I.D. card to vote? Can I register to vote at age 17 if I will be 18 on election day? How do I register if I am homeless?