[EL] Last Request Re: Election Day Assistance

[Frank Askin]

Dear Election Law Experts and Advocates:

	I am still trying to find out (for an article I am writing) if
there are any states other than New Jersey where  persons eligible to
vote who 

		(1) made a good faith effort to register but whose names
did not turn up on the voting rolls, or 
		(2) were not offered an opportunity to register at a
"voter registration agency" as required by the National Voter
Registration Act (NVRA)

can go before a Judge on Election Day and obtain an order to vote if
the  Judge finds their testimony credible. 
      Despite several requests over the Election Law list-serve and the
ACLU staff attorneys list-serve, the only states that may actually
provide remedies to such persons appear to be Pennsylvania and
California, and as I read the current Pennsylvania statute, it may no
longer be possible there, since the only statutory remedy appears to be
an order to allow casting a provisional ballot, which is no remedy at
all if the ballot is rejected because of lack of documentary evidence
that the person was registered. The California statute specifically
allows an order to vote to a person who was not registered at a motor
vehicle agency as required by NVRA. 		
	Additionally, New York ((Sec. 16-108); Virginia (Va. Code. Ann.
24.2-422; and Louisiana (La. Elect. Code 18:113) seem to provide
judicial relief for persons denied “registration,” but I have found 
no evidence that an order to vote will issue based solely on an
applicant’s testimony.
	Nor have I heard of any organized  attempts in those or other
states to assist people to obtain court orders to vote on Election Day.
Of course, this is irrelevant to EDR states.
	Can any one provide additional information in regard to these
matters?  FRANK


Prof. Frank Askin
Distinguished Professor of Law       and Director
Constitutional Litigation Clinic
Rutgers Law School/Newark
(973) 353-5687