In a case brought by the NAACP, a federal judge ruled that the state of
Louisiana was in violation of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) of
1993. U.S. District Judge Jane Richie Milazzo of the
Eastern District of Louisiana ruled that state officials must provide
voter-registration materials and assistance to welfare recipients whether benefits
are applied for in person, online, through the mail and over the telephone.
“The court's ruling will ensure that
low-income individuals will not be denied voter-registration services because
of advancing technology,” said Sarah Brannon, director of the Public Agency
Voter Registration Program at Project Vote, which is based in Washington, D.C.
“The court recognized that the mandates of the NVRA are not limited to
in-person visits to public-assistance offices.” Project Vote is a national,
nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes voting in historically
underrepresented communities.
President Bill Clinton signing the National Voter Registration Act, 1993
The state of Louisiana argued in the case
titled Ron Ferrand, Et AL
versus Tom Schedler, ET AL, that state public-assistance agencies
only were required to offer voter-registration forms and assistance to clients
who registered in person or in one of the local offices.
Dale Ho, assistant counsel for the NAACP
Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF), said, “The vast majority of
Louisiana's public-assistance clients never step foot in a state
office….Louisiana's refusal to enforce NVRA risks denying tens of thousands of
our poorest citizens a clear path to voter registration.”
In her ruling, Judge Milazzo wrote, “That
mandating ‘in person’ requirements to Section 7 frustrates the plain intent of
the NVRA. It is evident to this court that Congress’s purpose in enacting the
NVRA was to ensure that all Americans are affirmatively provided an opportunity
to register to vote. Congress made this intent clear when it uses such language
as ‘in addition’ and ‘each.’ Thus, the reading of section 7 as applying to each
transaction, whether it be in person or remote serves to accomplish the clear
goal of Congress by ensuring access for public-assistance clients to the
appropriate forms, no matter how they contact the public assistance offices.”
by Brent Scott: Executive Director of Vote by Mail America
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