(GEN-22-05) Requirements for Distribution of Voter Registration Forms

Publication Date
April 21, 2022
DCL ID
GEN-22-05
Subject
Requirements for Distribution of Voter Registration Forms
Summary
This letter outlines the HEA requirement for certain institutions in most states (and the District of Columbia) to make a good faith effort to distribute voter registration forms to their students.

Dear Colleague:

On March 7, 2021, President Biden issued Executive Order (EO) 14019 to expand access to voter registration and election information. As stated in the EO, the right to vote is the foundation of American democracy; yet many Americans, especially people of color, confront significant obstacles to exercising this fundamental right. These obstacles include difficulties with voter registration, lack of election information, and barriers to access at polling places. Postsecondary institutions play a critical role in promoting and supporting participation in the electoral process. We write to remind you of the related Federal requirements associated with your participation in the Federal student aid programs and to share resources to support you in effectively meeting those requirements.  

Under section 487(a)(23) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, eligible postsecondary institutions are required to “make a good faith effort to distribute a mail voter registration form, requested and received from the State, to each student enrolled in a degree or certificate program and physically in attendance at the institution, and to make such forms widely available to students at the institution.” The requirements under this Act were previously outlined in a Dear Colleague Letter on July 1, 2013, and you can find the most recent guidance under “Voter Registration” in Volume 2, Chapter 6 of the 2021-22 Federal Student Aid Handbook. This outreach can happen through electronic messages as long as the message is devoted exclusively to voter registration and contains an acceptable voter registration form or an internet address where that form can be downloaded.

With elections happening in every State in fall 2022, we strongly encourage you to make preparations over the next several months to fulfill this requirement. This includes taking into consideration voter registration deadlines to ensure your students have the information they need to participate in the electoral process.

We have also been asked whether Federal Work Study (FWS) funds may be used to support voter registration activities. If a student is employed directly by a postsecondary institution, the institution may compensate a student for FWS employment involving voter registration activities that take place on or off-campus. FWS funds cannot be used for employment by a Federal, State, or local public agency, or a private nonprofit organization, other than the institution, for work involving partisan or nonpartisan political activity, including party-affiliated voter registration activities, as this is expressly prohibited under 34 CFR 675.22(b)(5).

The following resources are available to help support your postsecondary institution’s efforts to meet the EO requirement:

  1. To learn more about voter registration, including information on how to register in your State or Territory, you can visit https://vote.gov/.

  2. To support students who are studying abroad and learn more about military, overseas, and absentee voting, you can visit https://www.fvap.gov/. This website also provides the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA), which allows students to register to vote and request an Absentee Ballot Request while abroad, and can be found at https://www.fvap.gov/fpca-privacy-notice.

  3. To learn more about how faculty, staff, and students can volunteer to become a poll worker, you can visit https://www.eac.gov/voters/become-poll-worker

To support students’ easy access to voting, postsecondary institutions can be eligible to serve as voting sites, including providing drop box locations, early voting sites, and election day sites based on the local election laws. Postsecondary institutions interested in pursuing these activities should contact their local elections official to understand the process and any local requirements.

Postsecondary institutions play a critical role in supporting our democratic process and ensuring that all students have access to resources to engage in our electoral process. The Department is committed to supporting you as you work to meet these requirements. Please send any questions related to the voter registration requirements through the Customer Support process in Federal Student Aid’s Help Center: https://fsapartners.ed.gov/help-center/contact-customer-support. When submitting a question, please enter your name, email address, topic, and question. When selecting a topic, please select “FSA Ask-A-FED/Policy.” Over the coming months, we will share resources and notify your institution electronically when additional resources are available.

Sincerely,

Michelle Asha Cooper, Ph.D.
Acting Assistant Secretary for the Office of Postsecondary Education