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tration-by-mail system. Forms available for registration by mail shall conform to such regulations as the Administraton may prescribe, including the use of bilingual forms where appropriate. Such forms shall be widely available for distribution in post offices and other public locations and for distribution by private individuals and organizations.

"408. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND FRAUD PREVENTION "The Administration is authorized to provide technical assistance, including assistance in developing programs for the prevention and control of fraud, to any State or political subdivision thereof for improving voter registration and voter participation. Such assistance shall be made available at the request of states and political subdivisions thereof, to the extent practicable and consistent with the provisions of this chapter.

"409. APPLICATIONS FOR GRANTS
Grants authorized by section 404, 405, 406, or 407 of this chapter may be made only upon application to the Administration at such time or times and containing such information as the Administration may prescribe. The Administration shall provide an explanation of the grant programs authorized by this chapter to State or local election officials, and shall offer to prepare, upon request, applications for such grants. No application shall be approved unless it --

"(a) demonstrates, to the satisfaction of the Administration, that the applicant has primary responsibility for registering voters within its jurisdiction:
"(b) sets forth the authority for the grant under this chapter:
"(c) provides such fiscal control and fund accounting procedures as may be necessary to assure proper disbursement of and accounting for Federal funds paid to the applicant under this chapter and provides for making available to the Administration, for purposes of audit and examination, books, documents, papers, and records related to any funds received under this chapter; and
"(d) provides for making such reports, in such form and containing such information, as the Administration may reasonably require to carry out its functions under this chapter, for keeping such records, and for affording such access thereto as the Administration may find neccessary to assure the correctness and verification of such reports.

"410. REGULATIONS
"The Administration is authorized to issue such rules and regulations as may be necessary or appropriate to carry out the provisions of this chapter.

"411. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS
"For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this chapter, there is authorized to be appropriated the sum of $45,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1974 and for each of the two succeeding fiscal years."

(b) The table of chapters of title 13, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end thereof the following:
"II Voter Registration . . . . . . . 401".
SEC 203. Section 5316 of title 5. United States Code, is amended by adding at the end thereof the following:

"(132) Administrator and Associate Administrators (2), Voter Registration Administration, Bureau of the Census."

TABLE 1 - VOTER TURNOUT BY STATE IN THE 1972 U.S. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

State	Eligible voters	Actual Voters	Voter Turnout
Alabama	2,274.000	1,006.000	44.2
Alaska	200,000	95,000	47.5
Arizona	1,239,000	623,000	50.3
Arkansas	1,310,000	621,000	47.4
California	13,945,000	7,765.000	55.7
Colorado	1, 553,000	909,000	60.9
Connecticut	2,106,000	1,384,000	65.7
Delaware	371,000	234,000	63.6
District of Columbia	518,000	164,000	31.7
Florida	5,105,000	2,576,000	50.5
Georgia	3,104,000	1,172,000	37.8
Hawaii	531,000	270,000	50.8
Idaho	479,000	310,000	64.7
Illinois	7,542,000	4,704,000	62.4
Indiana	3,509,000	2,128,000	60.6
Iowa	1,909,000	1,225,000	64.2
Kansas	1,541,000	916,000	59.4
Kentucky	2,206,000	1,067,000	48.4
Louisiana	2,339,000	1,051,000	44.9
Maine	666,000	417,000	62.6
Maryland	2,633,000	1,354,000	50.4
Massachusetts	3,955,000	2,453,000	62.1
Michigan	5,874,000	3,437,000	59.4
Minnesota	2,560,000	1,738,000	67.9
Mississippi	1,430,000	646,000	46.0
Missouri	3,266,000	1,856,000	56.8
Montana	460,000	318,000	69.1
Nebraska	1,022,000	576,000	56.4
Nevada	343,000	182,000	52.3
New Hampshire	521,000	334,000	64.1
New Jersey	5,025,000	2,992,000	59.5
New Mexico	636,000	386,000	60.7
New York	12,773,000	7,157,000	56.0
North Carolina	3,463,000	1,506,000	43.5
North Dakota	402,000	281,000	69.9
Ohio	7,185,000	4,087,000	56.9
Oklahoma	1,812,000	1,030,000	56.8
Oregon	1,500,000	922,000	61.5
Pennsylvania	8,161,000	4,589,000	55.2
Rhode Island	673,000	416,000	61,8
South Carolina	1,706,000	672,000	39.4
South Dakota	434,000	307,000	70.7
Tennessee	2,713,000	1,201,000	44.3
Texas	7,681,000	3,461,000	45.1
Utah	689,000	478,000	69.4
Vermont	309,000	187,000	60.5
Virginia	3,197,000	1,447,000	45.3
Washington	2,371,000	1,470,000	62.0
West Virginia	1,182,000	762,000	64.5
Wisconsin	2,955,000	1,851,000	62.6
Wyoming	225,000	146,000	64.9
Total	139,642,000	77,684,000	55.6

¹ Source: Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports. "Projections of the Population of Voting Age for States: November 1972", series P-25, No. 479 (March 1972). table 2.
² Source: Certified vote totals in the 1972 election, as published in the New York Times, Dec. 20, 1972, p. 28; Dec. 24, 1972, p. 26. Figures rounded to nearest thousand.

TABLE II - VOTER TURNOUT IN U.S. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS. 1824-1972 [in percent]

Election	Turnout	Election	Turnout
1824	26.9	1900	73.2
1828	57.6	1904	65.2
1832	55.4	1908	65.4
1836	57.8	1912	58.8
1840	80.2	1916	61.6
1844	78.9	1920	49.2
1848	72.7	1924	48.9
1852	69.6	1928	56.9
1856	78.9	1932	56.9
1860	81.2	1936	61.0
1864	73.8	1940	62.5
1868	78.1	1944	55.9
1872	71.3	1948	53.0
1876	81.8	1952	63.3
1880	79.4	1955	60.6
1884	77.5	1960	64.0
1888	79.3	1964	61.8
1892	74.7	1968	60.6
1896	79.3	1972	55.6

TABLE III -- VOTER TURN OUT IN RECENT GENERAL ELECTIONS IN FOREIGN NATIONS

Nation	Election	Turnout (%)	Comment
Australia	Dec. 2, 1972	97	Compulsory registration and voting
Canada	Oct. 30, 1972	74
France	June 2, 1969	77
West Germany	Nov. 19, 1972	91
Italy	May 7-8, 1972	93	Compulsory voting
Netherlands	Nov. 29, 1972	83	Compulsory voting
New Zealand	Nov. 25, 1972	90	Compulsory registration
Great Britain	June 18, 1972	71
Ireland	June 18, 1972	75

[third column]
[Report NLWV written in right hand corner]
ADMINISTRATIVE OBSTACLES TO VOTING (A report of the Election System P[illegible?] the League of Women Voter Education Fund.)

PREFACE
The need for election reform through federal legislation has been documented and endorsed by several committees of national prominence. Most notable is the report of the President's Commission on Registration and Voting Participation¹ and the [illegible] of the Freedom to Vote Task Force.² A forthcoming report of the National Municipal League will focus on the need for legislatively [illegible] election reform. A model state election [illegible] also is being developed by the National Municipal League and will be available to the legislatures for their consideration.³

In addition to changes in election law there is a need for changes in administrative practices of local and state election [illegible] (For the purposes of this study, administrative practices refers to the standards, procedures and structures set up to implement state election laws.) The main purpose of the report then is to document the need for administrative changes and to draw attention to the numerous administrative obstacles which confront all Americans as they seek to implement their right to vote.

The basis for this report is a study undertaken by the League of Women Voters Education Fund (LWVEF) with the assistance of a grant from the Ford Foundation. The administrative practices of election [illegible?] in 251 communities were documented through the efforts of over 3,000 League volunteers during the fall election period of 1971.⁴

All types of communities were included in this study; those where problems of registration and voting were likely to be found in the extreme as well as those where problems were less visible. In general, the information was collected from at least a large city, a suburb, an independent small town, and a rural area in every State. To supplement the League effort, information from some areas of the rural South was collected by local organizations associated with the Voter Education Project. This sample of communities encompassed approximately 40 million people or one-fifth of the total population of the United States.

Data were collected through three methods: (1) recording official registration and voting procedures. (2) interviewing government and election board personnel to determine attitudes and practices, and (3) [illegible?]ing citizen experiences at both registration and polling places. Information also was collected on state administrative practices with regard to elections by some state Leagues of Women Voters.

It should be noted that observations of registration and polling places were [illegible] during the period of the 1971 fall election. This means that administrative [behavior?] observed in a non-presidential election year in which various types of contests, some considerably

¹Report published in 1963.
²Two reports issued in 1971 by the Commission of the Democratice National Committee: "Report of the Freedom to Vote [illegible] Force of the Democratic National Committee and "That All May Vote".
³ Developed under a two year grant from the Ford Foundation, the model state election codes will be published in the spring of 1973.
⁴ A modified version of the comprehensive survey on which this report is based was conducted by League volunteers in an [illegible] 600 communities. The purpose of this [illegible] Survey was to verify the validity of the comprehensive survey sample.