Friday, June 12, 2020

U.S. Voter Registration Plummets during Coronavirus Pandemic


The Registration of New Voters Dropped dramatically in the U.S. amid the Coronavirus Pandemic, challenging efforts of both Major Political Parties to Enlist New Supporters in Battleground States ahead of the 2020 Election.

The number of New Voters Registered across 11 States in April 2020 Decreased by 70% compared with April 2016, according to a Report from the Nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation & Research.

Voter Registration was well ahead of the 2016 pace in Most States through February.

It started to Decline in March, when States began Enforcing Stay-at-Home Orders and Social Distancing Requirements to Fight the Spread of the COVID-19 Virus.

By April, Registration Plummeted as the Two most Popular Methods of Signing-Up New Voters: Third-Party at Schools and other Public Venues; and Motor Voter Registration, Virtually Halted.

The Report covers these States: Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, North Carolina, Texas, Wisconsin, and Virginia.

Data for the New Study came directly from these States and includes only New Voter Registration Activity, Not Registered Individuals who Updated Addresses or Other Information.

"Other efforts to register voters are going to be more important than ever," said David Becker, Executive Director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research. "If we're completely opened up and no one is worried about the virus in September, we're probably going to be OK. But I don't know many people who are really banking on that. I think most public health experts think that we're going to need to be concerned about social distancing and large groups of people for a while."

Among Entities to help fill the Registration gap, Becker pointed to the Nonprofit Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), which works with 30 States to Update Voter Rolls and Increase access to Registration.

ERIC Plans to contact 20 million Eligible Voters and encourage them to Sign-Up.










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