7

-7-
[three coumns]
[first column]
instance, support by local election officials dipped to less than a majority in regard to the following:

Carrying out door-to-doot registration by government officials.

Updating registration list monthly for public review.

Requiring at least 16 hours of trainig for election officials.

Extending voting hours from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m

[second column]
Conducting elections on a non-work day.

Publishing voter education materials at least 30 days prior to an election.

Placing local election official under state merit systems.

In short, election officials seem to view the government as a passive participant in the electoral process with no responsibility for reaching out to citizens. They apparently believe that the initiative lies entirely with the citizen. This would seem to suggest at

[third column]
least one reason why 47 million Americans didn't vote in 1968. The issue clearly goes beyond the generally accepted explanation of voter apathy. Viewed from another perspective, the question arises that if the government can find a citizen to tax him or draft him into military service. It is not reasonable to assume that the government can find that same citizen to enroll him as an eligible voter and inclde him in the active electorate?

TABLE C. NUMBER AND PERCENT OF ORGANIZATION REPRESENTATIVES BY POSITION WHO AGREE THAT SELECTED REGISTRATION PRACTICES ARE BASICALLY GOOD IDEAS
[in percent]

[{three columns}]

Election Officials	Voluntary organization	Range

[{9 columns}]

CCoEO	CClEO	LWV	NZACP	LCP	YG	PCC	CAL	MG

Statement	N1=	158	86	220	120	166	62	208	150	61	Low	High
A Door-to-door registration should be carried out by local government [illegible?] in order to get all eligible citizens on the boter [illegible?]	31	23	50	69	58	82	25	47	60	23	52
B Registration stations should not be closed sooner than 30 days before any election	76	73	92	88	89	87	87	83	91	73	92
C Residency requirements for voting in local elections should not suceed 60 days	61	49	74	81	77	84	65	53	73	49	14
D Each county should require at least 16 hours of instruction for election officials	46	47	64	83	72	85	48	70	85	46	85
E. On election day, polling places should open from at least 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.	25	34	77	73	69	92	63	60	94	25	51
F. All elections should be held on a nonwork day	29	20	35	41	33	46	18	18	47	18	47
G. 30 days before each election, officials should send each registered voter a voter information guide	23	24	62	66	46	65	32	44	75	23	75

¹ N refers to the number of respondents for the 1st respondents for the 1st statement. All percents computed on acutal N's but sample sizes not reported on this table.
³ Not all data from the original interviews are included in this table.

Note: Positions are identified as follows: CCoEO - Chief county election offical, CCEO - Chief city election official. LWV - League of Women Voters, NAACP - National Association for Advancement of Colored People, LCP - Labor council president, UG - Youth groups. FCC - Camber of commerce president. CAL - American Legion commander. MG - Nonblack minority groups

TABLE D. - NUMBER AND PERCENT OF ORGANIZATIONAL REPRESENTATIVES BY POSITION WHO BELIEVE THAT SELECTED REGISTRATION AND ELECTION CONDITIONS EXIST IN THEIR COMMUNITY (in percent)
[{three columns}]

Election officials	Voluntary organization	Range

[{nine columns}]

CCoEO	CCiEO	LWV	NAACP	LCP	YG	FCC	CAL	MG

A. Many [acavoters?] would vote if registration procedures were less complex3	11	9	60	57	42	74	22	13	69	8	74
B. Many potential voters become "nonvoters" because absentee voting procedures are too complex	20	16	69	61	41	76	27	16	67	16	76
C. The hours of registration set by the election officials are inconvenient, and many potential voters find it difficult or impossible to register	9	8	59	51	46	64	20	11	64	6	61
D. The polls close so early in the day that many potential voters find it difficult or impossible to get to the polls on time	8	6	39	47	31	54	20	11	64	6	61
E. Places of registration are inconveniently located, and many potential voters had it difficult or impossible to register	9	7	60	53	43	73	22	15	64	7	[?]3
F. Many [illegible?] are simply frightened by the complicated procedures of voting	20	12	67	65	48	68	25	17	75	12	75

¹ K refers to the number of respondents for the 1st statement. All precents computed on actual K's [illegible?] sizes not reported in this table.
³ Not all data from the original interviews are included in this table.

Note: Positions are identified as follows: CCoEO - Chief county election offical, CCEO - Chief city election official. LWV - League of Women Voters, NAACP - National Association for Advancement of Colored People, LCP - Labor council president, UG - Youth groups. FCC - Camber of commerce president. CAL - American Legion commander. MG - Nonblack minority groups

[three columns]
[first column]
OBSTACLES TO ORGANIZED CITIZEN INITIATIVE
Since election officials have so often been unwilling to support outreach effotts, citizen groups have for many years attempted to fill this void through a variety of activities such as: conductin voter registration drives, sponsoring get-out-the vote campaigns, publishing voter education materials, and providing volunteer staff for mobile registration units. These efforts, however, have all to oftern been frustrated by the ineficiencies and restrictive practices of the system as indicated by interviews with 584 citizen group representatives.

Approximately 50% of the organizations using registration lists found the lists to be inaccurate, and in half those cases the inaccuracy was reported to be greater than 10%. Lists were available to the public in 90% of the communities, but there was a financial charge for the list in 55% of the communities and authorization was required to use the list in 38% of the cases.

[second column]
Groups were also frustrated when they attempted to have member deputized to register voters. Approximately one-fourth of the organizations seeking in have members deputized were regused the authoriztion they requested. Of those organizations which succeeded, 31% reported a limit to the number of forms a deputy registrar could obtain an effective way of limiting the number of citizens registered.

These examples once again illustrate an attitude on the part of many election officials which tends to obstruct rather than encourage the efforts of citizen groups to expand the electorate. The instances cited strongly suggest the need for administrative refroms which would place more resonsibility for outreach programs with election officials temselves and which would simplify administrative procedures pertaining to outreach by citizens.

{third column|
SEEKING TO REGISTER AND VOTE: EXPERIENCES OF THE VOTER
Under the system of voter enrollment and paricipation currently used in the United States, the individual citizen must take the initiative in order to qualify himself [as a?] voter. The preceding discussion has indicated that the law does not require local elected officials to take the initiative and that many are unwilling to emply their numerous po[ll?]ers or fully utilize the efforts of citizens volunteers to reach potential voters.

In this context, the experience of the individual citizen as he seeks to register and vote are extremely important. If the cost in terms of time, energy, inconvenience or personal pride is too high, the individual may choose not to vote. Considering the all too frequent ocurrence of complex forms, unhelpful and poorly trained staff, machine breakdowns, and incoveniently located registration and polling places, it is surprising