Today, a number of Democratic U.S. senators have asked the Department of Justice to take a long, hard look at states’ compliance with “Motor Voter” (officially known as the National Voter Registration Act of 1993).
That’s because while registering at the DMV is commonplace thanks to Section 5 of the law, national activists say other parts have been forgotten. They refer specifically to Section 7, which requires public aid offices, just like the DMV, to give everyone applying or renewing services — such as food stamps, Medicaid, welfare, etc. — the option to register to vote.
The issue was cause for Congressional hearings earlier this month.
Six Democrat U.S. senators formally sent a letter today to U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey to get a handle on the situation and take legal action as necessary.
“Simply put, non-compliance with Section 7 (of the NVRA) is depriving low-income citizens of an important opportunity to participate in the democratic process,” the letter reads.
The letter was initiated by Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse. It’s also signed by Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Dick Durbin (D-IL).
I wrote a story for today’s newspaper about this issue in the specific context of a civil rights lawsuit filed Wednesday in Kansas City against some state and local officials. The suit, similar to the Senators’ complaint, alleges that MO public aid offices have slacked off in implementing federal rules on voter registration.