Page 80

Medical Services – Appendix V, Voter Registration Page 1 of 3 01/01/14 Voter Registration The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (P. L. 103-31) requires each state’s public assistance agency to provide the customer the opportunity to complete an Voter Registration Application at any time a request for assistance is made. This requirement became effective January 1, 1996. Voter registration is not a part of program eligibility requirements. Therefore, an application for assistance will not be denied nor will a case be closed due to failure to complete any forms in relation to voter registration. No forms or other documents related to voter registration except for the DHS-131 and Voter Registration Change of Status will be filed in the customer’s case record. DCO Employees will not: 1. Seek to influence a customer’s political preference or party registration; 2. Display any such political preference or party allegiance; 3. Make any statement to a customer or take any action, the purpose or effect of which is to discourage the customer from registering to vote; or 4. Make any statement to a customer or take any action, the purpose or effect of which is, to lead the customer to believe that a decision to register or not to register has any bearing on the availability of services or benefits. Explanation & Offer Each customer must be offered an opportunity to apply to register to vote when visiting the county office for purposes of applying for assistance, recertification/reevaluation, or for reporting changes of name or address. If a customer is applying for more than one service and is interviewed by two or more Program Eligibility Specialists on the same day, the offer has to be made at least once. The County Office will put into place a procedure that will ensure that the offer has been made. Subsequent visits to the County Office for the purpose of completing the application/ recertification process (e.g., customer returns the next day to furnish check stubs) will be considered part of the same application. Therefore, it is not necessary to make another offer for voter registration. Who Can Make the Offer The offer can be made by any employee or volunteer. If the offer is made by someone other than the Program Eligibility Specialist, a procedure must be in place to notify the worker that the offer was made to avoid duplication of effort during the program eligibility interview. A Voter Registration Application form must be provided to anyone who requests one. If someone is not applying for DHS services but requests a Voter Registration Application form, the worker will give