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Research Report

Government Lists: How Ready Are They For Automatic Registration?

  • Laura Seago
Published: June 12, 2009

This resource provides information on five categories of government lists that may be used for the purpose of automatically registering eligible citizens to vote: (1) state department of motor vehicles databases; (2) state social service databases; (3) other state lists covering low-income citizens; (4) lists of recipients of state and federal disability benefits; and (5) federal government lists. The lists discussed in this document have some or all of the data elements necessary to register voters; the capacity to share data with other government entities; and, when taken together, the demographic coverage necessary to capture a large proportion of voting-eligible citizens.