NYT: Hurdles to Voting Persisted in 2008

Check out today's article in the New York Times on the problems millions of voters faced when they tried to cast their ballots on 11.04.08:

Four million to five million voters did not cast a ballot in the 2008 presidential election because they encountered registration problems or failed to receive absentee ballots, which is roughly the same number of voters who encountered such problems in the 2000 election, according to an academic study to be presented to the Senate Rules Committee on Wednesday.

An additional two million to four million registered voters — or 1 percent to 2 percent of the eligible electorate — were “discouraged” from voting due to administrative hassles, like long lines and voter identification requirements, the study found. ...

The study found that the most common registration problems involved clerical errors, like entering voter information incorrectly in statewide databases, or voters who changed their address but failed to inform election officials. At least 4 percent of eligible voters surveyed said they requested absentee ballots but failed to receive them.

“It’s clear that the high turnout on Nov. 4 of last year simply masked persistent problems that still need to be fixed,” said Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York and the Rules Committee chairman. “Had the election been close, these problems would have received a lot more attention because they could have made the difference in which candidate won.”

In the last eight years there have been tremendous improvements in the voting process, the study said. In 2000, residual votes — which refers to the difference between total votes cast and total votes for a given office, and a commonly used measure of voting technology problems — averaged 2 percent. In 2008, after phasing out punch-card ballots and lever machines, residual votes averaged less than 1 percent, which means that roughly 1.5 million voters were allowed to have votes counted.

Little has been done, however, to remove barriers to registration and absentee voting.

“Registration issues were for 2008 what machine problems were for the 2000 election,” said Stephen Ansolabehere, a political science professor at Harvard and the study’s lead author.

This study backs up what Rock the Vote and our partners saw in the field in 2008 - voter registration is the biggest barrier to electoral participation out there. And because of the myriad rules and regulations - needing to re-register when you move, deadlines weeks before elections - young adults are among the most systematically disenfranchised due to confusing or arcane voter registration rules.

That's why we need to push to modernize our voter registration system - and what the Senate and House, academics, organizers, and voting rights advocates, including Rock the Vote - are working on right now. Keep an eye out for updates as this progresses - Congress is starting hearings today on fixing our voter registration system, and we should see some action on it in the coming months. Stay tuned - we'll need your help passing these reforms!