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Paid Voter Registration Drive Causes Headaches for Louisiana Voter Registrars
Problems increase as deadlines approach

By Kat Zambon
electionline.org

Voter registration drives have generated both voters and controversy in recent years.

The drives, particularly those operated by nonprofit organizations, have been praised for bringing traditionally underrepresented populations into the political process. At the same time, they have been criticized for producing high numbers of duplicate, incomplete and incorrect voter registration applications, increasing the risk of problems on election day.

A recent voter registration drive in Louisiana – which has particular urgency for Democrats trying to get the state’s electoral votes to swing toward likely nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) as well secure re-election for incumbent Sen. Mary Landrieu (D), was no exception.

In Caddo Parish, 21,000 new voters have been registered since 1996. Ernie Roberson, the registrar of voters for Caddo Parish, said he was surprised when organizers of a paid voter registration drive dropped off 4,600 voter registration applications at his office on May 28. Over the next week, more voter registration forms came in through the mail, for a total of about 8,000 voter registration applications.

“We had to hire temps to help us get through sorting,” Roberson said. “Plus we had a deadline for our next election in mid-June so we had to hustle.”

The applications were riddled with problems. About 1,500 applications came from voters already registered to vote; 500 applications came from felons who were ineligible to vote; another 300 came from outside the parish.

“It looks like someone had used a phone book because the name, address and phone number were correct … we had widows call us back and say, ‘that person died 20 years ago,’” Roberson said. 

Nearly all of the registration applications came from Democrats, Roberson said. However, with some of the forms the registrar received, it looked like the party affiliation on the form had been changed. Roberson said his office called registrants to clarify.

The voter registration system rejected about 1,000 voter registration applications because they did not comply with the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) requirements that mandate a voter’s registration application must be matched with the voter’s Social Security number or driver’s license number. Roberson said his office sent letters to those registrants explaining that they needed to resolve the discrepancy.

While he has received a significant number of responses to similar letters in the past, so far Roberson has received six responses.

Those numbers may not be unusual. Mike Slater, Project Vote’s deputy director told The New York Times in June that in a typical voter registration drive, 35 percent of registrations come from new voters, 35 percent represent address changes and the remaining 30 percent are incomplete or duplicate.

The problems were not limited to Caddo Parish. And in some jurisdictions, even election officials themselves were not immune to the oddball applications.

Dennis DiMarco, Jefferson Parish registrar of voters, received a voter registration application in his office with his name on it.

“They flattered me by making me younger — I did appreciate that,” DiMarco told The Times-Picayune.

While the voter registration drive occurred over several months, registrars noticed problems with applications sent in near the end, including applications filled out in different colors of ink and using the names of pets.

“I don’t believe that there’s any significant problems here … and I believe that we have adequate protections in place to address it when problems do arise,” said Wendy Weiser, democracy program deputy director at the Brennan Center.

Roberson said he found the experience ironic since he has testified in front of the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) about having a positive experience with previous volunteer voter registration drives with groups including Voices for Working Families and the NAACP.

“I’d never had a bad experience [with voter registration drives] … I’d read about it but I’d never seen it before up close and personal,” he said.

Roberson blogs on a site hosted by the Shreveport Times and recently wrote to warn voters that if they have filled out a voter registration form but have not received a voter registration card that they may not be registered to vote. Roberson is concerned that voters who believe they are registered to vote will show up at the polls on election day.

“They feel like somewhere along the line they got disenfranchised. Well, they never got enfranchised in the first place,” he said. As for those registering voters, “the folks that they wanted to help, they may not have helped at all.”

A group called Voting is Power (VIP) organized the registration drive on behalf of Louisiana Victory, an umbrella group of Democratic state and national leaders. Canvassers are required by law to turn in all forms they collect, even if they think they may be fraudulent, Brian Welsh, coordinator for Louisiana Victory said. “We have been and are continuing to work with the registrars in what is an unprecedented effort,” he told the Shreveport Times.

VIP helped register a significant number of new voters in East Baton Rouge, Elaine Lamb, registrar of voters told The Advocate. Lamb said that VIP submitted at least 17,000 voter registration applications, including 8,000 in May alone, overwhelming her staff. Similarly, Sandra Wilson, New Orleans Parish registrar of voters received about 20,000 applications. “I’m happy we’re getting them, but I’m telling you we’re inundated,” she told The Times Picayune.

“The problem is not that there are voter registration drives, the problem is that there are unregistered voters,” Weiser said. “We are significantly concerned that election officials won’t be prepared for the increase in voter registration rates and we fear large backlogs in processing voter registration forms,”

“If the voter registration system is something that only functions well when there are lower levels of participation, we need to rethink the voter registration system,” Weiser said, adding that universal voter registration may be a solution.