Conversation Transcript of Jo-Anne Chasnow's March 2000 Talk Jo-Anne Chasnow is the Executive Director of Human SERVE. Q: How did the idea for a Motor Voter law originate? Jo-Anne Chasnow: Back in 1982, the two founders of Human SERVE, Frances Fox Piven, a City University of New York political science professor, and Richard A. Cloward, a Columbia University social work professor, wanted to create a way to make it easier for poor people in this country to register to vote (they are disproportionately under-registered). Their idea was to encourage the nonprofit agencies around the country like day care centers and community health centers to offer voter registration to each person who came to use their agency services. This became the seed for the concept of "agency-based" voter registration. The idea grew to include public agencies, specifically welfare agencies. So Human SERVE began working with cities, counties and states to encourage voter registration in welfare agencies. But we ran into lots of resistance, as these jurisdictions were not really interested in targeting this idea to poor people's agencies. Hence, we included drivers' license offices—which has nearly universal reach. In the mid-80's we successfully worked with a number of states to pass state legislation which included these two agencies. And then, once we had examples of state programs, we began organizing—in about 1986—in Washington, DC to form a coalition of national organizations interested in this idea for federal legislation. Then we worked together to identify interested U.S. Congresspeople and Senators, worked on the drafting of the legislation, and after it was vetoed by President Bush, it was signed into law in May, 1993 by President Clinton. The law took effect January 1, 1995. Q: Does the Motor Voter law apply to or cover all the states? If not, which ones aren't covered, and why? Jo-Anne Chasnow: Six states are not covered by the provisions of the National Voter Registration Act. They are: North Dakota (because this state does not have voter registration); and Minnesota, Wisconsin, Idaho, New Hampshire and Wyoming (because they have election-day registration). The Washington, DC coalition which was working to pass this legislation had to compromise and allow election-day registration states to be exempt from the legislation in order to get sufficient U.S. Senate votes to pass the bill. Q: Will the Motor Voter law help disadvantaged groups? If yes, how? Jo-Anne Chasnow: I partially responded to this question, how this law will help "disadvantaged groups", in my answer to the first question. This law helps to reach disadvantaged people in several ways: It requires that all covered states offer voter registration whenever anyone applies for food stamps, Medicaid, welfare, and disability services at state-funded agencies primarily involved in serving people with disabilities. It also requires that all covered states offer voter registration by mail, which means that you don't have to travel long distances at inconvenient times to find someone who has been certified to be able to register you to vote. The voter registration by mail forms are fairly universally available, and each person who wants to register to vote can fill out the form by him/herself and mail it in to the appropriate jurisdiction office. Civic groups can also use these mail-in forms and go door-to-door in any neighborhoods and help people to register to vote. Q: What do you think is the greatest challenge faced by our democracy today in terms of voting? Jo-Anne Chasnow: One of the biggest challenges facing our democracy today is putting a limit on the amount of money which goes into campaigns. Campaign finance reform. Too much money is allowing the candidates to run their campaigns with 30 second TV spots. They never have to meet people and really address what's on their minds. People then get frustrated, because the issues are narrow and the candidates don't speak to their interests. Another major issue is third party access. Other parties in addition to the Democrats and the Republicans need to be able to get candidates onto ballots more easily. Third parties will increase competition, increase quality, and increase substance of debates. Note: The views expressed here have not been approved by the House of Delegates or the Board of Governors of the American Bar Association, and accordingly, should not be construed as representing the policy of the American Bar Association, nor do they represent the official position or policies of the ABA Standing Committee on Public Education. >>Transcript of Jo-Anne Chasnow >>Transcript of Carolyn Jefferson-Jenkins >>Transcript of Lucas Benitez >>Bio: Jo-Anne Chasnow >>Bio: Carolyn Jefferson-Jenkins >>Bio: Lucas Benitez *Conversation* | Voting | Activities | Resources Online Conversations | Law, Diversity, and the Vote