National Voter Registration Act

E31508

The National Voter Registration Act is a U.S. federal law designed to increase voter participation by simplifying and standardizing the process of registering to vote, including through motor vehicle agencies and mail-in registration.


Statements (49)
Predicate Object
instanceOf United States federal statute
election law
administeredBy United States Department of Justice
aimsToReduce barriers to voter registration
discriminatory voter registration practices
alsoKnownAs Motor Voter Act
appliesTo elections for federal office
codifiedIn Title 52 of the United States Code
containsProvision Section 5 voter registration at motor vehicle agencies
Section 6 mail voter registration
Section 7 agency-based voter registration
Section 8 list maintenance requirements
country United States
dateSigned 1993-05-20
effectiveDate 1995-01-01
enactedBy United States Congress
encourages coordination of voter registration with other government services
enforcedBy Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice
exempts North Dakota
certain states with same-day registration as of its enactment
exemptsReason North Dakota does not require voter registration
jurisdiction federal elections in the United States
legalBasis Elections Clause of the U.S. Constitution
policyType voting rights legislation
primaryGoal enhance voting rights protections
increase voter participation
increase voter registration
prohibits systematic voter purges within 90 days of a federal election
unreasonable removal of eligible voters from registration rolls
protects eligible voters from improper removal from registration lists
publicLawNumber Public Law 103-31
regulates maintenance of voter registration lists
relatedTo Help America Vote Act of 2002
Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act
Voting Rights Act of 1965
requires states to accept and use a federal mail voter registration form
states to offer mail-in voter registration
states to offer voter registration at motor vehicle agencies
voter registration opportunities at disability services offices
voter registration opportunities at public assistance agencies
scope nationwide application to most U.S. states
shortName NVRA
signedBy Bill Clinton
signingPresident Bill Clinton
subjectMatter federal election administration
voter list maintenance
voter registration procedures
typeOfReform administrative election reform
yearEnacted 1993

Referenced by (6)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
National Voter Registration Act ("Motor Voter Act")
alsoKnownAs
103rd United States Congress ("National Voter Registration Act of 1993")
enactedLaw
Civil Rights Division
legalAuthority
Voting Section ("National Voter Registration Act of 1993")
legalBasis
Help America Vote Act ("National Voter Registration Act of 1993")
relatedTo
United States federal elections ("National Voter Registration Act of 1993")
subjectTo

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