Why Are Millions of Citizens Not Registered to Vote?

A survey of the civically unengaged finds they lack involvement, but outreach opportunities be

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Why Are Millions of Citizens Non Registered to Vote?

Voter registration

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Overview

In every state and the Commune of Columbia—except Due north Dakota—individuals who programme to vote in a federal election must first register to vote. Withal, a sizable share of eligible citizens practise not register. Official statistics vary, only a conservative estimate, calculated using information from the U.Southward. Census Bureau'southward most recent Voting and Registration Supplement, indicates that 21.4 percent were not registered to vote in 2014.1

Registration'south importance to the voting process and the big number of individuals who remain unregistered have spurred several major reforms intended to increment voter registration. Most notably, the federal authorities's National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) requires that states allow eligible citizens to register to vote when completing other transactions at land motor vehicle and social services agencies, a provision commonly known as Motor Voter.2 Since enactment of the law, some states have expanded on this requirement past automating the Motor Voter process. Colorado upgraded its Motor Voter process in 2017, and Oregon became the first state to implement automated voter registration in 2016, with at to the lowest degree half dozen more than planning to implement similar policies in the future.iii Other states offer Same 24-hour interval Registration, which allows individuals to register and vote on Ballot Twenty-four hour period, often correct at their polling places.4

Despite these efforts, little is known about eligible simply unregistered U.S. citizens' exposure to opportunities to register, reasons for choosing not to, or attitudes toward the electoral organization and civic engagement, or how many of them are interested in registering in the future. To begin to make full this gap, The Pew Charitable Trusts commissioned a nationally representative survey conducted in March and April 2016 that included a big population of unregistered individuals. This chartbook presents findings from the survey about the attitudes and experiences of those who said they were not registered to vote in the months preceding the 2016 presidential ballot, including:

  • Less than xx percent of eligible citizens accept been offered the chance to annals at a motor vehicle or other regime agency.
  • The unregistered were more likely to say they do non vote considering they dislike politics or believe voting will non make a deviation, while people who are registered but vote infrequently say they do not vote more ofttimes because they are not informed enough about the candidates or bug.
  • At least 13 percent of the unregistered, generally those who are younger and more than civically engaged, say they could be motivated to register in the future.

Voting registration

Because the American voting system requires individuals to register before they tin vote, many political campaigns, nonprofits, religious organizations, and other groups hold voter registration drives. Despite these well-publicized efforts, more than than lx percent of developed citizens have never been asked to register to vote, and the rate was nearly identical among individuals who are and are non registered.5 Among respondents who had been invited to annals, the most likely context was by an official at a motor vehicle agency, social service agency, or other government part. However, less than twenty percentage of all those surveyed reported such an occurrence, which indicates that the NVRA has not been successful at reaching a large percentage of the population.

Voting registration

Twoscore-four percent of eligible unregistered individuals say they do not want to vote. Another 27 per centum say they intend to register only oasis't washed so yet, and 25 percent say they are unregistered because they have not been inspired past a candidate or issue. Eleven percent practice not want to register due to privacy or security reasons. The survey was conducted before revelations in fall 2016 that hackers had targeted data from state voter registration systems, and so the results practice not reflect the public concern almost the security of voter data that developed late in the entrada.6

Voting registration

The unregistered are more likely to indicate a broad distaste for the electoral system than registered individuals, who tend to requite election-specific motives for nonvoting, such as disliking the candidates or not knowing plenty about the issues. Forty percent of the unregistered say their aversion to politics is a major reason they don't want to vote, and 35 percent say voting has little to practise with the way real decisions are made, compared with 20 and xix percent of registered just infrequent voters, respectively.

Previous research has found that many unregistered students experience they should non vote because they are insecure most their political knowledge.7 However, this survey found that just 17 pct of the unregistered population chose not to vote because they are besides uninformed about the candidates or issues to make good decisions, compared with more than twice that amount—39 pct—of registered infrequent voters.

Voting registration

Some people vote in many types of races, while others plow out merely for certain elections or are registered just never vote. For example, in 2016, approximately 60 percent of eligible citizens voted in the presidential election, but in the 2014 congressional races, turnout was less than 40 percentage.8 To better empathize how the unregistered population compares with these different groups of voters, the survey asked respondents to think nigh the various types of elections and evaluate how frequently they accept voted since they were first eligible.9 Based on measures of people's interest in authorities, current events, and political bug, unregistered individuals differ very little from those who are registered but rarely or never cast a election, while frequent voters are more than than three times equally likely as the unregistered to limited interest in regime.

Voting registration

Despite not participating in elections, 43 percent of the unregistered and 59 percent of rare or nonvoters say they care a good deal who wins the presidential election. These groups expressed far less interest in the outcome of congressional races and presidential primaries, while frequent voters intendance about the winner of all iii types of elections at very high rates. Although some of the unregistered may care who governs, many of these respondents withal were non interested in participating in choosing the president: Simply 38 percent said they intended to register but had not done and then at the time of the survey, and 32 percent said they did not want to vote, probably because of their full general belief that voting is disconnected from the way real decisions are made and their feeling that one vote would not bear upon the event of the ballot. (See Figure three.)

Voting registration

Voters diverge significantly from the unregistered in terms of their views virtually the behaviors that are necessary for a person to be considered a good citizen. Jury service was the most ordinarily selected behavior for skillful citizens across groups at 69 percentage of all respondents. However, across groups, the priority on jury duty differed widely: Only 46 per centum of the unregistered identified this every bit an essential responsibleness of good citizenship, compared with 87 percentage of frequent voters. Voters and the unregistered tended to be more than agreeing about behaviors such every bit volunteering time to help others. Sixty-iv percent of frequent voters and 48 percent of the unregistered said volunteering is something that a person should do to exist a good citizen. Voting in elections and paying attending to politics were the two behaviors about which voters and the unregistered population differed almost. Frequent voters were more 3 times equally likely as the unregistered to say voting is something that skillful citizens should practise.

Voting registration

An individual's belief that he or she is qualified to empathize and participate in politics is considered a cardinal metric for inferring engagement in the political system.x All groups, except the most frequent voters, reported that the rules of regime are difficult to understand at roughly similar— and high—rates. Just when asked if voting could influence the manner the government is run, the unregistered and rare or nonvoters both tended to say information technology does not, which very clearly diverged from more frequent voters, who largely said voting does touch on governance.

Voting registration

Most people, including more 80 percent of the unregistered population, said they could have at to the lowest degree a small positive impact on their communities. Occasional, semifrequent, and frequent voters were all most likely to say they could have a moderate upshot, while rare and nonvoters were equally probable to choose moderate or small. The largest share of unregistered respondents said they could have but a pocket-sized touch.

Voting registration

Given that nonvoters and the unregistered have express conviction in their ability to affect their communities, the fact that they are less likely to engage in civic and volunteer activities than groups who vote more frequently is not surprising. Across different types of activities, the unregistered and nonvoters participate more ofttimes in those that are non political in nature. Merely ane pct of the unregistered have donated money to a political candidate or arrangement, and just v percent have attended a community meeting. Still, fifteen percent accept done unpaid volunteer work. The borough behaviors of the unregistered population did not differ significantly from those of respondents who rarely or never vote and, in some cases, occasional voters were nearly as disengaged.

Voting registration

Among the unregistered population, responses differed about peradventure registering to vote in the future. Overall, 43 percent of the unregistered said nada would motivate them to register, xiii pct said something might, and 44 percent were undecided. Those who were open to registration tended to be younger: Forty-six per centum of those who said they would register were between eighteen and 29 years old, compared with 21 percent ages 45 to 59 and just 11 percent threescore or older.

Voting registration

Amid the unregistered, those who said they would register reported patterns of borough engagement that closely resembled those observed for occasional or semifrequent voters. Fourteen percent of unregistered individuals who said they would register and semifrequent voters had worked informally to solve a trouble in their community, and 21 and 27 percent of those groups, respectively, had engaged in economic protest. Similarly, 27 percent of those who would register had done unpaid volunteer piece of work, half dozen percent had contributed money to a candidate, and 8 percent had attended a community meeting, all which closely rails the rates amidst occasional voters (25 pct, 6 percent, and seven percent, respectively. Encounter Figure 9.)

Conclusion

The unregistered differ in many means from those who vote frequently: They are less interested in politics, less engaged in civic activities, and more than cynical about their ability to sympathize and influence government, just they are non appreciably different on these measures from individuals who are registered but rarely vote. Notwithstanding, the unregistered population is not entirely unengaged from civic life; some indicated that they would register, and that group also reported participating in community or political activities at rates similar to occasional and semifrequent voters. Further, more xl pct of the unregistered cared who would win the presidency in 2016, and some indicated that they could be motivated to register in the future, though many also experience that the voting process does not affect the way governing decisions are made. These findings propose that opportunities be to engage segments of the unregistered population, including through consistent outreach at motor vehicle agencies as required under the NVRA and public education campaigns designed to highlight the significance of individual voter participation to ballot outcomes and the connection between local policies and issues these citizens intendance about, such as those for which they volunteer in their communities. Less than 20 percent of this group has been asked to register by a state bureau, and a substantial increase in that figure could aid to meliorate registration rates and electoral participation amidst these disconnected citizens.

Methodology

The Voting Frequency Survey was conducted online in English and Castilian from March 25 to Apr 19, 2016, by the GfK Group on behalf of The Pew Charitable Trusts. The total sample size was 3,763 U.S. citizens 18 years or older. GfK sampled households from its KnowledgePanel, a probability-based, nationally representative web panel. The margin of error, calculated with the pattern upshot, at the 95 per centum level of confidence for the total sample is plus or minus i.9 percentage points. A full methodology, including margins of fault for fundamental subgroups, is given in Appendix A: Voting Frequency Survey Methodology, available on the chartbook webpage. The survey questions and frequencies are bachelor in Appendix B: Voting Frequency Survey Topline.

Endnotes

  1. The Census Bureau calculated that 35.iv percent of eligible citizens were non registered to vote in 2014, as reported in "Who Votes? Congressional Elections and the American Electorate: 1978-2014," July 16, 2015, https://www.demography.gov/library/publications/2015/demo/p20-577.html. However, researchers concord that this calculation artificially inflates the percent of the population that is unregistered because it includes those who were not asked or did not reply the registration question in the Voting and Registration Supplement equally beingness unregistered. More information on the method for adjusting the registration rate can be found in The Pew Charitable Trusts, Elections Functioning Index: Methodology (August 2016), http://www.pewtrusts.org/~/media/assets/2016/08/epi_methodology.pdf.
  2. The National Voter Registration Act applies to 44 states and the District of Columbia. Idaho, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming are exempt because at the time the law was implemented, they offered Election Day registration or had no registration requirements.
  3. National Briefing of Country Legislatures, "Automatic Voter Registration," March 8, 2017, http://www.ncsl.org/enquiry/elections-and-campaigns/automated-voter-registration.aspx.
  4. National Conference of State Legislatures, "Aforementioned Day Voter Registration," Jan. 11, 2017, http://www.ncsl.org/inquiry/elections-and-campaigns/same-24-hour interval-registration.aspx.
  5. Differences are within the margins of mistake, which are 3.62 percentage points for the subgroup of unregistered respondents and two.21 percentage points for registered voters.
  6. Eric Geller and Darren Samuelsohn, "More Than 20 States Have Faced Major Election Hacking Attempts, DHS Says," Pol, Oct. 3, 2016, http://www.political leader.com/story/2016/09/states-major-ballot-hacking-228978.
  7. D.J. Neri, Jess Leifer, and Anthony Barrows, "Graduating Students into Voters" (Apr 2016), http://www.aascu.org/programs/ADP/StudentsintoVoters.pdf.
  8. Michael P. McDonald, United States Elections Project,"Voter Turnout," accessed February. 6, 2017, http://www.electproject.org/habitation/voter-turnout/voter-turnout-data.
  9. The question asked: "There are many types of elections such as federal elections for president and members of Congress, primary elections where voters choose party nominees, local elections for city council and school board, and special elections when vacancies arise in between scheduled elections. Which all-time describes how oftentimes you vote, since you became eligible? Every election without exception, Nigh every election – may have missed 1 or two, Some elections, Rarely, Don't vote in elections." The four frequencies of voting reflect respondents' answers to the question of how often they vote. Individuals who answered "Every ballot without exception" are divers as frequent voters, "Almost every election – may have missed one or ii" are semifrequent voters, "Some elections" are categorized as occasional voters, and the answers "Rarely" and "Don't vote in elections" were combined into a grouping chosen rare or nonvoters, both due to sample size and because these ii groups were nearly identical on fundamental measures.
  10. Richard G. Niemi, Stephen C. Craig, and Franco Mattei, "Measuring Internal Political Efficacy in the 1988 National Election Report," The American Political Scientific discipline Review 85, no. four (1991): 1407–thirteen, doi:x.2307/1963953.

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