Throughout the summer, and particularly since the Walker recall election, I have been keeping an eye on the voter registration statuses and histories of several people. (See my posts, "18? Check! State ID? Check! Vote? Check! Or maybe not...", “Do Our Votes Really Count?” , “Do Our Votes Really Count? The GAB Responds”, and "More Confirmed Voter Registrations...and a Kudo for the GAB".) My goal has been to see how the process works not in theory or on paper, but in reality. Because voter registration is important. In all but one of these United States, without registering, one cannot vote. It’s that simple. Voter registration is so important, in fact, that in 1993, President Clinton passed into law the National Voter Registration Act, which mandated all but six states to take specific measures to make voter registration for federal elections easier. Wisconsin is one of those six states exempt from this act, so it has become important to me that the voter registration process works…well…and by “well”, I mean “without error”. Unfortunately, that is not what I have found...thus far.
I began my little project after the June 5th recall election with 10 people – not including myself – who were a combination of first-time voters, registered voters who updated their addresses, and regular voters (people who were already registered and had no changes). I have since added 2 people who have asked me to check and keep an eye on their statuses. Both of those people registered to vote and voted for the first time at the June recall. The group breaks down like this:
4 are males: 2 White, 1 Black, 1 Biracial
8 are females: 3 White, 1 Black, 4 Bi-racial
2 are unemployed
5 are low-income
3 are students not residing on a campus
All live in Dane County
8 are new voters in 2012; 1 registered on May 8, 7 registered on June 5
3 updated their registrations on June 5
Now, in looking only at completed registrations in 2012 – and by that I mean registrations of new or updated voters that are in the SVRS, the “final stop” for registrations – what I have found is that most registrations and updates went fine…however long it took for them to show up (over 2 months). Using the breakdown from above, here is how the new or updated registrations went:
4 males: 4 of 4; All are current in SVRS
8 females: 4 of 8: 2 still not in SVRS
2 unemployed: 1 of 2 still not in SVRS
5 low-income: 1 of 5 still not in SVRS
3 students: All are current in SVRS
Dane County residents: 3 of 12 still not, or are not current, in SVRS
8 new voters in 2012: 2 of 8 still not in SVRS
3 updated their registrations on June 5: 1 updated registration “failed” – now is “inactive”
So, in summary, 3 of 12 people I’ve been following are not current or even in the SVRS after registering or updating their registration at the polls for the June 5th recall election, and all 3 have different situations:
Voter 1 did receive a registration postcard in the mail on August 14, 2012 – the date of the Wisconsin primary election. This voter was on the poll list and was able to vote without problem. The spelling of this voter’s first name has some variations, so attempts to find this voter in the SVRS included several different spellings, none of which were successful. The city clerks office reports this person is listed as an active voter with the correct spelling of the first and last name.
Voter 2 has not confirmed receipt of a registration postcard and did not vote in the August 14th primary. This is not to say the postcard was not received at the household; it is only to say this voter has not reported having received it. This voter’s last name is hyphenated and unsuccessful attempts to find this voter in the SVRS included several variations to the spelling of both the first and last name(s). The city clerk’s office reports this voter is listed as an active voter, but with only the first last name.
Voter 3 did not get a registration postcard and did not vote in the August primary. After the April 2011 ProsserKloppenburg Supreme Court election (in August 2011), this voter moved to another municipality and provided updated documentation for the new address at the polls on June 5th. This voter then moved again to yet another municipality in August of 2012 – before registration postcards were sent out. Because this voter was no longer at that address, the postcard was returned and eventually (after a 30-day notice was sent and apparently returned) this voter’s registration status was changed from “active” to “inactive”. This voter received no notification of this, despite having put in a change of address with the post office upon moving, which would allow a letter – if not the postcard – to be forwarded. Clearly, the envelope is marked that it may not be forwarded or the notice would have made it to the voter.
I informed this voter of the current registration status in early September and was not surprised to find the voter was angry. Oddly coincidentally, later that same day, this voter received a letter in the mail from the new municipality of residence stating that this voter’s registration status was "inactive". The letter listed the first address (from the April 2011 election before having moved) and not the address from which the voter had just moved – the June 5th address in the SVRS. We’re not sure why this is or where the new municipality got their information, but this is something that we'd like better understanding of. If the SVRS is the official database for voter registrations, why is the new municipality sending letters to the new address stating an old address as the voter’s most recent address, rather than the one that's listed in the SVRS (which IS the most recent, previous address)? And how did this letter from this municipality get to this voter when other attempts via mail from the GAB and previous municipality failed?" Those attempts led to this voter being changed from "active" to "inactive" without that voter having any knowledge of it. What gives?
I am working with these people to get their statuses and histories current in the Statewide Voter Registration database, and have asked the GAB (the Government Accountability Board) to assist and explain what has happened that they aren’t current or in the SVRS. This is important because, while this may be only 3 people, it is 25% of my small sample: what if 25% of ALL new or updated registrations from the recall election still haven’t been completed? What does that mean for the results of the recall election, and even more importantly, what are the possible implications for the upcoming presidential election? These are questions I plan to address in my next post, with input from the GAB.