The Independent View: Enforcing Motor Voter Law in California

Citing clear evidence that the State of California is violating its federally-mandated responsibility to offer California drivers and ID card holders the opportunity to register to vote, attorneys from Demos, Project Vote, ACLU Foundation of San Diego and Imperial Counties, and the global law firm Morrison & Foerster sent a pre-litigation notice letter to the California Secretary of State on behalf of the League of Women Voters of California, ACCE Institute, California Common Cause, the National Council of La Raza, and several individual California citizens.

“It’s time for the Department of Motor Vehicles to stop dragging its feet and make voter registration easy and accessible for the millions of Californians who apply for or renew their driver’s licenses or ID cards every year,” said Helen Hutchison, President of the League of Women Voters of California.

Under the National Voter Registration Act (“NVRA”), California and most other U.S. states are required to treat a driver’s license application or renewal as a voter registration application if the applicant chooses to register to vote. If the applicant is already a registered voter, the State must update the existing voter registration with any new information supplied on a driver’s license application, renewal, or change of address form. Such new information might be a name change, address change, or new political party affiliation.

According to a report issued today by Dēmos, one of the groups that signed the letter to California, the NVRA violations in California are part of a national problem. The report finds that these “Motor Voter” requirements are widely ignored in states all across the county, with the result, in many states, that only a small number of voters are registering through motor vehicles departments (DMVs). According to the report, California has one of the lowest levels of DMV voter registration in the country.

Today’s letter details violations of the “Motor Voter” provisions of the NVRA by the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and other state agencies and demands that the Secretary act immediately to bring the state into full compliance with the law or face litigation. Among other problems, the letter describes how DMV procedures unlawfully require applicants to complete an entirely separate voter registration application and provide the same information required on the driver’s license and ID card forms. These violations, and additional problems with how change-of-address, mail, and online transactions are processed, impede rather than facilitate the ability of applicants to register to vote or update their registrations.

As Secretary of State, Secretary Alex Padilla is responsible for making sure the state meets its obligations under the NVRA. As a state senator, Padilla sponsored a bill, never enacted into law, addressing this very problem by requiring the state to develop a paperless voter registration system that would easily allow voters to register to vote or update their voter registrations through the response to a single question followed by automatic transfer of voter registration information from the DMV to elections officials.

“California's recent fiscal difficulties cannot excuse its failure to provide seamless, NVRA-compliant voter registration opportunities at DMV,” said Lori Shellenberger, Voting Rights Director at the ACLU of San Diego, “For 13 years, California has been sitting on over 130 million in unspent federal dollars received under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) while other states have used these same funds to ensure their DMV offices are transmitting secure and accurate voter registration information to elections officials.”

In the letter, the voting rights groups advised that they are ready to work with California officials to modify the State’s procedures to afford the voter registration opportunities required by federal law. If the State fails to respond or take steps to comply with the law within 90 days of receiving the letter, the groups and the individual citizens have said they will bring a lawsuit to make sure the State fulfills its obligations.