New Virginia Majority commends the Department of Elections and the State Board of Elections for their excellent work in making voting more accessible to the citizens of the Commonwealth, including the recommendations to revise the current voter registration application. 

As an organization that conducts third party voter registration throughout the Commonwealth, we have significant experience assisting individuals as they complete their applications. Because of our considerable familiarity with the application form from a user perspective, we offer the following comments and recommended changes for your review.

Virginia Voter Registration Form:

Section 1:

• Relocating the social security number and date of birth to the first section along with citizenship and gender makes sense.
• Removing the screening question asking whether the individual will be 18 years old on or before the next General Election removes an unnecessary redundancy since General Registrars can verify that an individual is of sufficient age through VERIS.
• RECOMMENDATION: The collection of gender data, with only “female” and “male” options, can pose a challenge for transgender people, particularly those that are in the process of or are considering transitioning genders. Rather than requiring the applicant to mark either “female” or “male”, the gender question should be an open-ended option for which the applicant self-identifies their gender.
  • Federal law (42 USC 1971 (a) (2)) requires that no person shall be denied the right to vote because of an error or omission on any application or registration if such an error or omission is not material in determining whether that individual is qualified under State law to vote. 
  • In the implementation of the 42 USC 1971 (a) (2), the State Board of Elections adopted regulation (1 VAC 20-40-70 (B)(8) that specifies that the omission of gender is not material on the voter registration application. This regulation, adopted in 2011, restates and continues historic board policy that an application shall not be denied for failure of the applicant to provide gender.
  • Providing an open-ended option is consistent with the Code of Virginia (§24.2.418 (a)) that requires the application provide gender information on the voter registration application.

Section 2:

• Relocating the protected voter code so that it is included in the same box as the residence address is very helpful because it helps applicants understand that resident protections are available for certain individuals and that they can provide a code and proceed to provide a mailing address. On the current form, the protected voter code is provided after the signature line, and could inadvertently deter applicants from completing the form.
• For mailing address, only qualified protected voters are required to list a P.O. Box. Other voters who are authorized to provide a mailing address and who aren’t protected voters may wish to provide a mailing address that is not a P.O. Box. The qualifier (P.O. Box and ZIP) may lead to confusion for such voters.

Section 3:

• Placing phone number and email address in a separate box in which no information is required makes it clear to applicants that while they are encouraged to provide this information, it is solely optional.

Section 4:

• Moving the Election Officer information from after the signature line to a more visible location on the application can encourage more individuals to sign up to be Election Officers on Election Day.
• Adding a new checkbox regarding uniformed services members, their spouse and dependents helps identify these applications so that they can be properly handled.

Section 6:

• Moving the previous voter registration information above the signature line is a simple yet significant improvement to the application form. In the current form, many applicants fail to provide their previous voter registration information due to its location after signature line, not realizing that it is a required part of the application, resulting in applications getting denied.

Section 7:

• The revised affirmation statement is an improvement and states clearly that by signing, the applicant affirms that she meets all of the requirements to register to vote in the Commonwealth. Suggested clarification to statement: “I affirm that I meet Virginia’s requirements for voter registration, including U.S. citizenship, ….” since Virginia doesn’t have citizenship requirements and the way the statement literally reads is misleading.
• As stated previously, moving the protected voter code from and Election Officer selection from the signature box to other boxes is a marked improvement.

Voter Registration Application Receipt:

• Moving this to the front of the form makes it clear that this section is not an option, and that any individual, group or office collecting applications must provide a receipt to the applicant.
• Including offices as a category that must provide a receipt is a great addition as offices should also follow the same protocol as any other individual or entity receiving applications.
• Informing the applicant that the application collector is required to submit applications within ten days or by the registration deadline is a great addition.

Voter Registration Application Form Instructions:

Instructions:

• The first sentence is a bit confusing. I would clarify the online option by stating: “You can apply to register to vote or report a change in name or address either online at www.vote.virginia.gov or by using this form….” (Note: Changed “elections.virginia.gov/register” to www.vote.virginia.gov since the web browser redirects anyway, and the latter is simple, easy to remember and consistent with a later reference in the instructions.  Also added “www” at the beginning of the url since without it, an error page sometimes appears.)
• The remaining language in the opening paragraph is fine. Again, add “www” to the url in the last sentence: www.vote.virginia.gov.
• Recommended language for second part:
  • “Attention: Overseas citizens, uniformed service voters, qualifying spouses and dependents may register to vote and request absentee ballots using a federal form, the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA), available at www.fvap.gov.”

Address Requirements:

• Recommended language: “You must provide a street address, or in the absence of an address, a description of your physical dwelling place, for residence address in Section 2. If the U.S Postal Service does not service your residence or if you are homeless, you are authorized to list a mailing address. Overseas citizens, uniformed services voters, qualifying spouses and dependents may also list a mailing address. Otherwise, you may only include a mailing address in Section 2 if you qualify as a protected voter.  Qualified protected voters must provide a post office box within Virginia as a mailing address. Please see below.”

Protected Voter Requirements:

• Recommended language: “Your residence address will be published on authorized voter lists unless you or a member of your household can legally claim one of four reason codes: …”

Mailing Instructions:

• Change “voter registrar” to “General Registrar” in first bullet.
• For second bullet: “Your application must be postmarked at least 22 days…”
• I would suggest adding a statement about where they can find the addresses for their General Registrar’s office since the page that lists all of the addresses on the current form is now removed.  I suggest uploading the existing page that lists all of the office addresses on to a webpage with a simple url so that applicants can easily locate their registrar’s office address without having to input information and navigate several webpages.

Signature:

• Suggested language: You must sign or mark this form, or it will not be accepted. If you have a physical disability that prevents you from signing the application, you must check the box below the signature line in Section 7, and a witness must sign the application on the second signature line in Section 7.

Overall, we believe that the recommended changes are a significant improvement to the existing voter registration application. The changes to the content of the form and the order in which they appear are much clearer and provide for a much easier application process. 

We commend the Department of Elections for taking the time to review the form and to draft these changes. We hope that the State Board of Elections will swiftly adopt these changes upon the completion of the public comment period.