November 7, 2014

President Barack H. Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500

Re: Affordable Care Act (ACA) Compliance with the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA)

Dear Mr. President:

On behalf of the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA), a coalition of the nation’s 39 preeminent national Latino organizations, we write to urge immediate action from the White House to ensure full enforcement of the requirements of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) in the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA).

NHLA strongly supports the ACA. NHLA is, however, concerned that the application process for the federally facilitated Health Benefit Exchanges (exchanges) violates the public agency provisions of the NVRA. Accordingly, NHLA calls upon your Administration to issue a directive to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), requiring any technical changes necessary to ensure that the ACA insurance application and enrollment process for federally run exchanges offers voter registration in compliance with the NVRA.

NHLA commends HHS for publicly recognizing that exchanges are subject to the NVRA, and for specifying that voter registration should be included in its 2012 proposal establishing the required elements for the single streamlined ACA application. Currently, however, the application process used by federally run exchanges does not meet these legal requirements. For example, citizens applying over the phone do not receive any voter registration services. Those applying online and/or with paper applications are asked whether they want to register to vote, but this does not include the statutorily required language and other disclosures required under the NVRA.

Over the last 20 years, the NVRA has enabled millions of Americans to register to vote. In passing the NVRA, Congress sought to “increase the number of eligible citizens who register to vote in elections for Federal office,” and required public agency registration, so that applicants for public assistance are offered a meaningful opportunity to register to vote. Section 7 of the NVRA requires government agencies and offices in a state, as well as nonprofit entities established by the state, to provide voting registration opportunities when offering services to the public. Similarly, nonprofit entities and other third-party agencies that contract with a state to administer public assistance must also operate in compliance with the NVRA. Because federally run exchanges are responsible for fulfilling all of the state’s obligations, these exchanges must offer NVRA-compliant voter registration services.

Therefore, among many other obligations, the NVRA requires federally run exchanges to:

• Distribute voter registration application forms (unless individuals properly decline) in a manner that is accessible to all applicants;

• Ask applicants, in writing, whether they would like to register to vote or update their voter registration address;

• Inform applicants, in writing: 1) that no one may interfere with their right to register to vote; 2) about their right to privacy while registering; and, 3) of their right to choose a political party;

• Assist applicants in completing the voter registration application form with the same degree of assistance provided for completing the health benefits application form, including providing foreign language assistance; and

• Accept completed voter registration application forms and submit them to the appropriate state officials within 10 days of receipt or within 5 days if the last voting registration day is 5 days away.

Furthermore, the online voter registration process through federally run exchanges does not sufficiently “distribute” a voter registration application under the NVRA. Currently, applicants must download and print a twenty-five page document, fill out the application by hand, and mail it to the appropriate state election officials. Given that access to computers and printers is often limited among uninsured and underinsured Latinos and others, federally run exchanges should instead provide an option to submit the form online, or pre-populate the form with the applicant’s information and mail it to the applicant to sign and submit to state election officials. California, for example, has committed to making its state-run exchange fully compliant with NVRA, and NHLA hopes that federally run exchanges will follow its lead. The millions of Americans seeking health care every year through federally run exchanges deserve an equal opportunity to register and secure their fundamental right to vote, whether in person, over the phone, or online.

The health of our democracy depends on an NVRA-compliant ACA application process. Recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that only 58.7 percent of adult Latina/o U.S. citizens were registered to vote in 2012, in comparison to 73.7 percent of non-Hispanic whites and 73.1 percent of African Americans. Given that more than 10.2 million uninsured Latina/os in the U.S. now have new opportunities to apply for publicly subsidized health insurance coverage and public assistance programs through the exchanges, NHLA respectfully requests that your Administration issue an immediate directive to bring the federally run exchanges into full compliance with the requirements of the NVRA.

NHLA looks forward to continuing to work with your Administration to advance our shared commitment to increasing access to affordable health insurance and opportunities to register to vote. If there are any questions for NHLA, please contact Andrea Senteno, with MALDEF, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and Joanna Cuevas Ingram or Martha Pardo, with LatinoJustice PRLDEF, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., respectively.

Sincerely,

Thomas A. Saenz MALDEF, President and General Counsel NHLA Civil Rights Committee Co-Chair

Juan Cartagena LatinoJustice PRLDEF, President and General Counsel NHLA Civil Rights Committee Co-Chair

Cc:

Congressional Hispanic Caucus
Valerie B. Jarrett, Senior Advisor to the President
Cecilia Muñoz, White House Domestic Policy Council Director
Jonathan A. Greenblatt, Director for Social Innovation and Civil Participation
David M. Simas, Director of Political Strategy and Outreach Eric H. Holder, Attorney General of the United States
Pamela S. Karlan, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Voting Rights
Vanita Gupta, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division
Christian Herren, Chief of Voting Section, Civil Rights Division
Sylvia M. Burwell, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services
Jocelyn Samuels, Director of the Office of Civil Rights, Department of Health and Human Services