Just another mandate.

• Author: Neal, Tommy
• Position: Requirements of the National Voter Registration Act

Getting more people registered to vote may be a good idea, but not when it comes as an unfunded mandate from the feds.

Here come the feds. Again. Add voter registration to the list of federally mandated state programs. And, as usual, this one comes without any federal funds to do what will be required of the states.

Officially titled the National Voter Registration Act, but popularly known as the motor voter bill, the legislation recently enacted by Congress encompasses much more than allowing people to register to vote when they apply for driver's licenses.

In addition to that method of encouraging voter registration, states must establish ways for citizens to register by mail and at state offices. States will be required to provide registration to clients at all public assistance offices and at state funded offices that serve people with disabilities. Recruitment offices of the armed services must offer voter registration applications. States may designate additional registration sites at unemployment offices, and are encouraged to designate other locations as voter registration agencies--including public libraries, public schools, fishing and hunting license bureaus, government revenue offices and other offices that provide services to people with disabilities.

The legislation prohibits removal of a voter's name for one failure to vote. A voter's name can be removed after failure to respond to a notice and failure to vote in the two following elections. Otherwise, a name may be removed from the registration list only at the request of the registrant or because of criminal conviction, mental incapacity, death or a change in residency. A change of address must be confirmed by the registrant in writing.

States must allow registered voters both to update their addresses and to vote on election day--at the state's choice of either the old or new polling place--if they have moved within the same registrar's jurisdiction and the same congressional district. Other provisions require designation of an official to coordinate the state's responsibilities under the act. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is directed to prescribe a mail registration application form, and report to Congress its assessment of the act's impact and its recommendations following each general federal election. States may develop their own mail registration form if it is in compliance with the act, but if a citizen sends in a federal form, they must accept it.

The...