More Ohioans On Welfare Are Signing Up To Vote
August 15, 2010

More than 100,000 Ohioans signed up to vote through welfare programs from January to June in part of an effort to get more poor people involved in elections.

The Election Assistance Commission says the number of people who registered to vote with public-assistance programs nearly doubles the annual average in 2007 and 2008.

The increase in low-income voters comes after a new set of rules went into effect in January. The rules make sure Ohio follows a federal law that says voter registration information has to be provided to people applying for welfare programs.

Since Congress passed the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, states like Ohio focused more on tying voter registration to driver's license applications than to public assistance programs.