It's really not complicated. Either you make it easy for people to vote, or you make it hard.
Thus far, Nevada has chosen the hard road. Until activists sued them in Federal Court. Governing Magazine:
Voting rights advocates and the state of Nevada settled a lawsuit today over the state's implementation of a federal law aimed at registering low-income voters.
Under terms of the settlement, the state's Department of Health and Human Services will provide each of its clients a voter registration application, help them fill out the forms and send the applications to state election officials.
It's a piece of paper, people. With standard information on it. Again, not complicated. But wait...
In 2002, welfare agencies in the state collected nearly 40,000 voter registration applications, compared to only 1,677 in the 2010 election cycle.
So pre-recession they were able to get 40 thousand people seeking food stamps, etc. registered to vote, and after the recession less than 2000? Sounds deliberate. The settlement fixes that.
Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske said last week that her office is reviewing the information and has been communicating with the DMV for several months to establish a timeline to modernize the agency's voter registration system
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Nevada has already modernized their voter registration system -- people with internet, a drivers license, you know, things people with money have, can register online, as they can in 31 other states.
Making it easy for the have-nots in our society is not complicated, and it's a shame when cash-strapped states opt to get sued and pay lawyers, rather than just do what is right.
