Why Is It Necessary For States To Register Voters?

Why Are Millions of Citizens Not Registered to Vote?

A survey of the civically unengaged finds they lack interest, but outreach opportunities exist

Issue Brief June 21, 2017 Read time:

Why Are Millions of Citizens Non Registered to Vote?

Voter registration

Overview

In every state and the Commune of Columbia—except North Dakota—individuals who plan to vote in a federal election must showtime annals to vote. Nevertheless, a sizable share of eligible citizens do not register. Official statistics vary, but a conservative judge, calculated using data from the U.Due south. Census Bureau's most recent Voting and Registration Supplement, indicates that 21.4 per centum were not registered to vote in 2014.^one

Registration's importance to the voting process and the large number of individuals who remain unregistered have spurred several major reforms intended to increment voter registration. Most notably, the federal government's National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) requires that states allow eligible citizens to register to vote when completing other transactions at state motor vehicle and social services agencies, a provision unremarkably known as Motor Voter.² Since enactment of the police force, some states have expanded on this requirement by automating the Motor Voter process. Colorado upgraded its Motor Voter process in 2017, and Oregon became the first country to implement automated voter registration in 2016, with at to the lowest degree six more than planning to implement like policies in the future.ⁱⁱⁱ Other states offer Same Day Registration, which allows individuals to annals and vote on Election Day, ofttimes right at their polling places.⁴

Despite these efforts, lilliputian is known near eligible simply unregistered U.S. citizens' exposure to opportunities to register, reasons for choosing not to, or attitudes toward the electoral arrangement and civic engagement, or how many of them are interested in registering in the hereafter. To begin to fill this gap, The Pew Charitable Trusts commissioned a nationally representative survey conducted in March and April 2016 that included a big population of unregistered individuals. This chartbook presents findings from the survey well-nigh the attitudes and experiences of those who said they were non registered to vote in the months preceding the 2016 presidential election, including:

Less than twenty pct of eligible citizens have been offered the chance to register at a motor vehicle or other government agency.
The unregistered were more probable to say they do non vote because they dislike politics or believe voting will not make a divergence, while people who are registered but vote infrequently say they do non vote more often considering they are not informed enough about the candidates or issues.
At least 13 percent of the unregistered, generally those who are younger and more than civically engaged, say they could exist motivated to register in the time to come.

Voting registration

Considering the American voting system requires individuals to register before they can vote, many political campaigns, nonprofits, religious organizations, and other groups hold voter registration drives. Despite these well-publicized efforts, more than sixty percent of adult citizens have never been asked to register to vote, and the rate was nearly identical amidst individuals who are and are not registered.⁵ Amid respondents who had been invited to register, the most probable context was by an official at a motor vehicle agency, social service agency, or other government office. Notwithstanding, less than 20 percent of all those surveyed reported such an occurrence, which indicates that the NVRA has not been successful at reaching a big percentage of the population.

Voting registration

Forty-4 percent of eligible unregistered individuals say they practise not want to vote. Another 27 percent say they intend to register merely haven't done so yet, and 25 percent say they are unregistered because they have not been inspired by a candidate or issue. Xi percent do non desire to register due to privacy or security reasons. The survey was conducted before revelations in fall 2016 that hackers had targeted data from land voter registration systems, so the results do not reflect the public concern about the security of voter data that developed late in the campaign.⁶

Voting registration

The unregistered are more likely to signal a broad distaste for the electoral system than registered individuals, who tend to give election-specific motives for nonvoting, such as disliking the candidates or not knowing enough nearly the issues. 40 percentage of the unregistered say their aversion to politics is a major reason they don't desire to vote, and 35 percentage say voting has piddling to practise with the way real decisions are made, compared with xx and 19 percent of registered simply exceptional voters, respectively.

Previous research has plant that many unregistered students feel they should not vote because they are insecure virtually their political noesis.⁷ Withal, this survey found that only 17 percent of the unregistered population chose not to vote because they are as well uninformed about the candidates or problems to make good decisions, compared with more than than twice that amount—39 percent—of registered infrequent voters.

Voting registration

Some people vote in many types of races, while others turn out only for certain elections or are registered but never vote. For example, in 2016, approximately 60 percent of eligible citizens voted in the presidential election, but in the 2014 congressional races, turnout was less than 40 per centum.⁸ To better understand how the unregistered population compares with these different groups of voters, the survey asked respondents to think about the various types of elections and evaluate how frequently they have voted since they were first eligible.^nine Based on measures of people's interest in government, current events, and political problems, unregistered individuals differ very little from those who are registered but rarely or never bandage a ballot, while frequent voters are more than three times as likely every bit the unregistered to express interest in regime.

Voting registration

Despite not participating in elections, 43 percent of the unregistered and 59 percent of rare or nonvoters say they care a good deal who wins the presidential ballot. These groups expressed far less interest in the outcome of congressional races and presidential primaries, while frequent voters care about the winner of all three types of elections at very loftier rates. Although some of the unregistered may intendance who governs, many of these respondents still were not interested in participating in choosing the president: Just 38 percent said they intended to register but had not done so at the time of the survey, and 32 percent said they did not want to vote, probably because of their general belief that voting is disconnected from the style real decisions are fabricated and their feeling that one vote would non affect the outcome of the ballot. (See Figure 3.)

Voting registration

Voters diverge significantly from the unregistered in terms of their views about the behaviors that are necessary for a person to exist considered a adept citizen. Jury service was the most commonly selected behavior for proficient citizens across groups at 69 pct of all respondents. However, across groups, the priority on jury duty differed widely: Only 46 percent of the unregistered identified this as an essential responsibleness of good citizenship, compared with 87 pct of frequent voters. Voters and the unregistered tended to be more agreeing about behaviors such as volunteering time to help others. Lx-four per centum of frequent voters and 48 per centum of the unregistered said volunteering is something that a person should do to exist a adept citizen. Voting in elections and paying attending to politics were the two behaviors virtually which voters and the unregistered population differed near. Frequent voters were more than 3 times equally likely every bit the unregistered to say voting is something that good citizens should do.

Voting registration

An individual's belief that he or she is qualified to understand and participate in politics is considered a key metric for inferring engagement in the political organization.¹⁰ All groups, except the near frequent voters, reported that the rules of government are hard to understand at roughly similar— and high—rates. But when asked if voting could influence the fashion the government is run, the unregistered and rare or nonvoters both tended to say information technology does not, which very clearly diverged from more frequent voters, who largely said voting does impact governance.

Voting registration

Most people, including more than 80 per centum of the unregistered population, said they could have at least a minor positive impact on their communities. Occasional, semifrequent, and frequent voters were all almost likely to say they could have a moderate event, while rare and nonvoters were equally likely to choose moderate or small. The largest share of unregistered respondents said they could have but a small affect.

Voting registration

Given that nonvoters and the unregistered have limited conviction in their power to impact their communities, the fact that they are less likely to engage in civic and volunteer activities than groups who vote more than frequently is non surprising. Across different types of activities, the unregistered and nonvoters participate more often in those that are non political in nature. Only 1 percent of the unregistered have donated coin to a political candidate or organization, and just 5 pct have attended a community meeting. Withal, 15 percent take done unpaid volunteer work. The borough behaviors of the unregistered population did non differ significantly from those of respondents who rarely or never vote and, in some cases, occasional voters were near as disengaged.

Voting registration

Among the unregistered population, responses differed nearly possibly registering to vote in the hereafter. Overall, 43 percent of the unregistered said nothing would motivate them to register, thirteen percent said something might, and 44 percent were undecided. Those who were open to registration tended to exist younger: Forty-six percent of those who said they would annals were between 18 and 29 years old, compared with 21 percent ages 45 to 59 and just 11 percent sixty or older.

Voting registration

Amidst the unregistered, those who said they would register reported patterns of civic engagement that closely resembled those observed for occasional or semifrequent voters. Fourteen percent of unregistered individuals who said they would register and semifrequent voters had worked informally to solve a problem in their customs, and 21 and 27 per centum of those groups, respectively, had engaged in economic protest. Similarly, 27 percent of those who would annals had done unpaid volunteer piece of work, 6 per centum had contributed coin to a candidate, and 8 percent had attended a community meeting, all which closely track the rates amongst occasional voters (25 percent, 6 percent, and vii per centum, respectively. Come across Effigy 9.)

Conclusion

The unregistered differ in many ways from those who vote frequently: They are less interested in politics, less engaged in civic activities, and more cynical well-nigh their ability to empathise and influence government, but they are non appreciably different on these measures from individuals who are registered just rarely vote. Withal, the unregistered population is not entirely unengaged from civic life; some indicated that they would annals, and that group too reported participating in customs or political activities at rates similar to occasional and semifrequent voters. Further, more than than forty per centum of the unregistered cared who would win the presidency in 2016, and some indicated that they could be motivated to register in the future, though many besides feel that the voting process does not affect the fashion governing decisions are fabricated. These findings suggest that opportunities exist to engage segments of the unregistered population, including through consequent outreach at motor vehicle agencies as required under the NVRA and public educational activity campaigns designed to highlight the significance of individual voter participation to ballot outcomes and the connection between local policies and issues these citizens care well-nigh, such as those for which they volunteer in their communities. Less than 20 pct of this group has been asked to register by a state agency, and a substantial increase in that figure could help to improve registration rates and balloter participation among these disconnected citizens.

Methodology

The Voting Frequency Survey was conducted online in English and Castilian from March 25 to Apr 19, 2016, past the GfK Group on behalf of The Pew Charitable Trusts. The total sample size was 3,763 U.S. citizens 18 years or older. GfK sampled households from its KnowledgePanel, a probability-based, nationally representative web console. The margin of error, calculated with the design effect, at the 95 percent level of confidence for the full sample is plus or minus one.9 percentage points. A full methodology, including margins of error for key subgroups, is given in Appendix A: Voting Frequency Survey Methodology, bachelor on the chartbook webpage. The survey questions and frequencies are available in Appendix B: Voting Frequency Survey Topline.

Endnotes

The Census Bureau calculated that 35.iv per centum of eligible citizens were non registered to vote in 2014, every bit reported in "Who Votes? Congressional Elections and the American Electorate: 1978-2014," July 16, 2015, https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2015/demo/p20-577.html. However, researchers agree that this calculation artificially inflates the percentage of the population that is unregistered because it includes those who were not asked or did not answer the registration question in the Voting and Registration Supplement as beingness unregistered. More information on the method for adjusting the registration charge per unit can be found in The Pew Charitable Trusts, Elections Functioning Alphabetize: Methodology (Baronial 2016), http://world wide web.pewtrusts.org/~/media/assets/2016/08/epi_methodology.pdf.
The National Voter Registration Act applies to 44 states and the District of Columbia. Idaho, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming are exempt because at the fourth dimension the police was implemented, they offered Election Mean solar day registration or had no registration requirements.
National Conference of State Legislatures, "Automatic Voter Registration," March 8, 2017, http://www.ncsl.org/enquiry/elections-and-campaigns/automatic-voter-registration.aspx.
National Conference of Land Legislatures, "Same Twenty-four hours Voter Registration," January. 11, 2017, http://www.ncsl.org/inquiry/elections-and-campaigns/aforementioned-day-registration.aspx.
Differences are within the margins of fault, which are three.62 pct points for the subgroup of unregistered respondents and 2.21 per centum points for registered voters.
Eric Geller and Darren Samuelsohn, "More Than xx States Accept Faced Major Election Hacking Attempts, DHS Says," Politico, October. 3, 2016, http://world wide web.politico.com/story/2016/09/states-major-ballot-hacking-228978.
D.J. Neri, Jess Leifer, and Anthony Barrows, "Graduating Students into Voters" (Apr 2016), http://www.aascu.org/programs/ADP/StudentsintoVoters.pdf.
Michael P. McDonald, United States Elections Projection,"Voter Turnout," accessed February. six, 2017, http://world wide web.electproject.org/abode/voter-turnout/voter-turnout-data.
The question asked: "There are many types of elections such as federal elections for president and members of Congress, primary elections where voters choose party nominees, local elections for metropolis council and school lath, and special elections when vacancies arise in between scheduled elections. Which all-time describes how ofttimes you vote, since you became eligible? Every election without exception, Virtually every election – may have missed one or two, Some elections, Rarely, Don't vote in elections." The four frequencies of voting reverberate respondents' answers to the question of how often they vote. Individuals who answered "Every election without exception" are defined as frequent voters, "Almost every election – may have missed one or two" are semifrequent voters, "Some elections" are categorized as occasional voters, and the answers "Rarely" and "Don't vote in elections" were combined into a group called rare or nonvoters, both due to sample size and because these two groups were nearly identical on primal measures.
Richard G. Niemi, Stephen C. Craig, and Franco Mattei, "Measuring Internal Political Efficacy in the 1988 National Ballot Report," The American Political Science Review 85, no. 4 (1991): 1407–13, doi:10.2307/1963953.