Agreement Made to Resolve Claims State Violated National Voter Registration Act: Feds

The Justice Department has reached an agreement with Connecticut after finding that the state failed to comply with parts of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA).

According to a press release from the Justice Department, investigation found that the state did not process applications for driver’s license and identification card renewals as applications for voter registration with respect to federal elections. Additionally, Connecticut did not process change of address notifications for voter registration purposes.

Officials said Section 5 of the NVRA requires states to allow residents to register to vote for federal elections when they renew driver’s licenses or other identification. It also requires that states give residents the option to change address for voter registration purposes when they notify a state’s motor vehicle agency of change of address.

The Justice Department announced they would be investigating concerns of non-compliance back in April.

The settlement requires that Connecticut allow voter registration in all applications for driver’s licenses or ID cards, and give residents the ability to change their federal voter registration address when submitting a change of address notification. The state will also contact eligible voters who could not submit or update their voter registration information when they last applied for these services and offer them the appropriate information on how to register.

The Justice Department said that the state already took steps to rectify the problems by creating a voter registration application in the electronic driver licensing system.

For more information visit the Justice Department website.

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