Sneak Preview: Job Centers Urged To Offer Voting Access Services

(The following was excerpted from a recent Thompson Grants Compliance Expert article.) State and local workforce agencies operating American Job Centers (AJCs) are encouraged to work with state election officials to designate AJCs as sites to effectively and legally register individuals to vote, according to recent guidance from the Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration (ETA).

AJCs are a nationwide network of abut 2,400 locally operated centers providing job training and employment services. States, U.S. territories and the District of Columbia receive formula funding under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) (Pub. L. 113-128) to allocate to local workforce development boards to operate an AJC. Should it choose to provide election-registration services, an AJC should follow state procedures for complying with the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) of 1993 (Pub. L. 103-31).

Under WIOA, the public workforce system aims to help job seekers access employment, education, training and support services to succeed in the labor market and to match employers with skilled workers. The NVRA requires multiple public programs to play a role in nonpartisan voter registration and provide opportunities to obtain information about, and participate in, the electoral process. The NVRA requires states to designate offices as voter registration agencies, including offices that provide public assistance or services to persons with disabilities.

“While not required to provide these services, the public workforce system can play an important role in furthering the goals of the NVRA by facilitating nonpartisan voter registration activities,” the ETA guidance explains. “When designated as voter registration agencies, staff or volunteers within the AJC would work as voter registration staff and would distribute voter registration application forms, assist applicants in completing voter registration forms, and would accept completed voter registration forms for transmittal to the appropriate state election official.”

Some AJCs are operated by state agencies that are already designated as voter registration agencies, including disability services and public assistance offices. The guidance notes that the NVRA explicitly suggests that states consider designating Unemployment Compensation offices as voter registration agencies.

(The full version of this story has now been made available to all for a limited time here.)

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