The National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), most commonly known for its “motor voter” component, requires that states offer voter registration at public assistance offices, as well as at motor vehicle offices. In enacting the NVRA, Congress expressly recognized that the right to vote “is a fundamental right,” and took note of the disproportionate harm to voter participation by racial minorities caused by discriminatory and unfair registration laws and procedures. The NVRA’s public assistance component is particularly important since low-income citizens are less likely to own a car and thus are among the least likely to register to vote at motor vehicle offices.
In July 2009, the Lawyers’ Committee filed suit against Indiana state officials based on the State’s failure to offer voter registration at public assistance offices. The suit was brought on behalf of the class of all public assistance clients who are not registered to vote and who have been denied the opportunity to register to vote at Indiana public assistance offices. The named Plaintiff is the Indiana Conference of the NAACP. In addition to the Lawyers’ Committee , Plaintiff is represented by Demos, Project Vote, the law firm of Miner, Barnhill and Galland, the ACLU of Indiana, and the NAACP.
This lawsuit is part of an ongoing coalitional effort by the Lawyers’ Committee, Demos, and Project Vote to ensure that states fully carry out their responsibility under the NVRA to offer voter registration at public assistance offices. Similar suits have been filed against state officials in Georgia, Indiana, Missouri, and Ohio.
Depositions taken by Plaintiff’s attorneys of officials within the Indiana public assistance agency provided important details regarding the breakdowns that occurred within the agency concerning the provision of voter registration. The depositions also revealed the limited efforts undertaken by Defendants after suit was filed to remedy the problems.
On May 12, 2011 , the parties submitted a settlement agreement to the district court to resolve the litigation. The agreement establishes new procedures for distribution of voter registration applications at public assistance offices, requires that public assistance personnel receive training regarding voter registration, requires that the State gather and analyze data regarding voter registration at public assistance agencies, and requires that the State implement other measures to monitor compliance. The state defendants agreed to immediately begin implementating the agreement, although the district court also needed to approve it.
On August 25, 2011, after conducting a fairness hearing, the district court entered an order approving the settlement. The settlement will remain in effect until April 1, 2014.
Voter registration data reported by the State pursuant to the settlement indicate a very subtantial increase in the number of registration applications being submitted by public assistance clients as compared with what was occurring prior to suit being filed.
To read Plaintiff’s Corrected Amended Complaint, please click here. For Exhibit 1, please click here. For Exhibit 2, please click here.
To read the settlement, please click here. To read the district court’s order approving the settlement, please click here.
