People aren’t talking about October 6, the deadline to register to vote in the November 2 elections. But some Democrats think they should be.
“This is a midterm election, which typically has less of the Democratic base. We have to cover for that with new voters,” said Maria Chappelle-Nadal, Democratic candidate for the Missouri Senate (14th District).
“The few steps we take and the buttons that we push determines the money in our pocket.”
It is easier to register to vote in Missouri now than it has ever been, thanks to a court ruling that forced State agencies to obey the National Voter Registration Act. Now people can register to vote at any Department of Motor Vehicles office, State social services agency or public library.
Over the past two years a quarter of a million Missouri voters have registered to vote largely due to the recent enforcement of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. The act sets provisions for motor vehicle and public assistance agencies to offer the opportunity to register to vote.
In 2008, Project Vote began to work on the act’s enforcement in Missouri. Working with other voting rights groups in Missouri, Project Vote went to different public assistance offices to see if citizens were being offered the opportunity to vote. They found that these offices were failing to perform their duties under the National Voter Registration Act.
“You wouldn’t need to do voter registration drives if these government agencies were doing voter registration,” said Steven Rosenfeld of Project Vote.
In April 2008, Jackson County (Kansas City, Missouri) was noted as having public assistance agencies that failed to offer voter registration. The County failed to instruct officials at these agencies on how to perform the tasks delegated to them under the federal act.
When Project Vote filed suit, the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri ruled that the Missouri Department of Social Services must comply with the federal act.
In August 2008, the State began to reinstitute voter registration at these public agencies. Within the first three months, 40,000 voter applications came in, most of which were new voters.
Rosenfeld sees Missouri, which has about 10,000 low-income people registering to vote or updating registration information per month, as a national model. If registration growth like this is seen throughout the country these underrepresented groups would have serious impact in elections.
If so, Democrats like their chances.
“When people come out to vote, Democrats tend to win,” said Derrick Plummer, Midwest regional press secretary for the Democratic National Committee and a Morehouse man.
“But what’s more important is people coming out to vote means a more active electorate. President Obama said that ‘we have to be the change we voted for,’ and that starts with voting.”
Scott Leiendecker, a Republican commissioner on the St. Louis city election board, said having more people come out to vote won’t necessarily help either party. “I think that it’s issue-based more than political,” Leiendecker said. “People aren’t interested in party politics these days, especially the independents.”
Absentee voting for the midterm election began September 20. Chappelle-Nadal, for one, is focused – and not only because her name is on the ballot in her district.
“I don’t date people who don’t vote,” Chappelle-Nadal said. “That’s how serious I am about voting.”
For more information about how to register to vote, contact the city election board (300 N. Tucker) at 314-622-4336 or the St. Louis County election board (12 Sunnen Dr., Ste. 126 in Maplewood) at 314-615-1800. You may register to vote by Oct. 6 if you are 17 and a half, but must be 18 to vote on Nov. 2.
