Who Is Left Out? The Process of Validating Voter Registration Applications

• Date: 01 November 2020
• DOI: 10.1177/1532673X20914613
• Author: Thessalia Merivaki
• Published date: 01 November 2020
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/1532673X20914613

American Politics Research

2020, Vol. 48(6) 682 –686

© The Author(s) 2020

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DOI: 10.1177/1532673X20914613

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Article

Prospective voters face roadblocks that often prevent them

from registering to vote and consequently voting on Election

Day. First, they change residences often, making it difficult

to stay up to date with their voter registration (McDonald,

2008). Second, state residency or voter identification

requirements may also deter them from registering to vote

(Ansolabehere et al., 2012). Third, most states cap age

eligibility for registration to 18 years, while in other states

16- and 17-year olds can preregister to vote. Fourth, states

impose voter registration deadlines, where eligible voters

can register as early as 30 days before an election and as late

as on Election Day. The “the cost of voting” is higher in

states with restrictive deadlines, no youth preregistration,

and strict voter identification requirements, resulting in low

rates of voter participation (Li et al. 2018).

Researchers of voter registration note that gaps in imple-

menting federal election laws remain, particularly when

they involve transactions between local motor vehicle

offices, public agencies, third party groups, and election

officials (Hess & Novakowski, 2008; Hess et al., 2016;

Merivaki & Smith, 2019; Naifeh, 2015). Scholars also note

implementation gaps insofar as registering eligible youth to

vote, particularly 16- and 17-year olds (McDonald &

Thornburg, 2010). Such gaps exist when eligible to register

citizens are not offered the option to register to vote. In that

case, election officials will receive zero or few voter regis-

tration applications.

Gaps can also exist due to complications in the voter reg-

istration verification process. In this case, prospective voters

are offered, or apply to register to vote, but their application

is placed “on hold” as incomplete and/or valid, and therefore

requires additional verification. There is limited insight as to

why registration applications are submitted incomplete, and

what criteria election administrators utilize to verify “on

hold” applications (Merivaki, 2019). Investigating how voter

registration applications are processed, and why some are

invalidated have important implications for uncovering

implementation problems, as well as assessing whether voter

registration rejection rates “represent problems with the

voter registration process or large numbers of voters who

were attempting to register but were not eligible” (Pew

Charitable Trusts, 2016a). Very importantly, they raise con-

cerns about the success of these policies in ensuring equal

access to the voting process.

Analysis of aggregate data shows significant variation in

the rates of invalidated voter registrations across states

(Merivaki, 2016; Pew Charitable Trusts, 2016a). However,

access to individual-level records of “on hold” registrants is

limited, partly due to the unavailability, or lack of disclosure

from states and localities. Based on the National Voter

Registration Act (NVRA)’s public disclosure requirement,

voting rights group Project Vote was able to obtain “on hold”

records from multiple localities across the states including

914613APRXXX10.1177/1532673X20914613American Politics ResearchMerivaki

research-article2020

1Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, USA

Corresponding Author:

Thessalia Merivaki, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State,

MS 39762, USA.

Email: lia.merivaki@pspa.msstate.edu

Who Is Left Out? The Process of Validating

Voter Registration Applications

Part of Special Symposium on Election Sciences

Thessalia Merivaki1

Abstract

Whose voter registration requires further verification and why? And why are some prospective registrants left out from

voter records? These questions can uncover challenges in the voter registration process, and potential implementation issues

with federal and state law. In this article, I analyze “on hold” voter registration applications processed between November

2007 and September 2008 in Florida’s Hillsborough and Miami-Dade Counties. I evaluate why individuals were left out of

the voter rolls, by matching their records to snapshots of the counties’ voter records from December 2008. I find that “on

hold” applicants face persistent challenges in successfully registering to vote, particularly depending on when they attempt to

register and what type of information they omit from a voter registration application.

Keywords

voter registration, NVRA, election administration, Florida