Democrat Urges Holder to Enforce Motor-Voter Laws(Schumer)

[cal04]

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/04/07/washington/AP-Voter-Registration.html?_r=1

A key Senate chairman on Tuesday urged Attorney General Eric Holder to sue any states that aren't helping needy citizens to register to vote.

Federal laws call for state agencies to try to register people to vote when they are distributing aid, such as food stamps and unemployment benefits.

''With the new leadership at the Justice Department, we hope states will be made to meet their obligations,'' Senate Rules Committee Chairman Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement. ''If that means taking certain states to court, so be it.''

It's not clear which states, if any, are failing to comply.

A senior Justice Department official last year acknowledged that the agency was surveying as many as 18 states on compliance with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. The official refused to say which states or why they were chosen.

[redqueen]

1. "if any"? That's a joke right?

I thought it was pretty much common knowledge that that is one of the most unreliable ways to register to vote. I'm not sure what they do with the registration cards, but not a one that I've ever sent from the DMV ever worked.

[EFerrari]

2. Do you think it depends who has the SoS office?

Mine work fine but I never tried to register in a Republican venue either. :shrug:

[redqueen]

3. Not sure...

perhaps it's more dependent on who runs state / local gov't?

[tabbycat31]

4. I just got a new drivers license

and they were asking me several times if I was registered to vote. I registered to vote in NJ more than a year (so I could vote on Super Tuesday) before I got a NJ license (my NY one expired last week)