April 2, 2008

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Voting helps people move toward self-sufficiency. That's the message a Michigan Department of Human Services official told a Congressional panel on Tuesday.

Catherine Truss, civic engagement project manager, outlined DHS' efforts to make voter registration applications accessible to clients and others who have contact with the agency's network of 120 offices in Michigan's 83 counties.

Speaking before the House of Representatives subcommittee on elections, Truss explained that each local county office has identified a key staff member to manage activities that encourage civic engagement and participation in self-governance.

"Voting is a critical way to have a voice in the very decisions that directly impact people living in poverty," Truss said. "By providing and accepting voter registration applications we empower people who often have been disenfranchised."

The staff members assigned civic engagement duties will be trained and will be provided outreach materials such as posters. Voter registration applications are available in English and Spanish languages and can be completed by anyone visiting a Michigan DHS office.

"Compliance with the National Voter Registration Act is not just another federal mandate," DHS Director Ismael Ahmed said. "It is a key component for empowering families to become equipped to act on their own behalf and to take part in public debate. Not only is this an essential component of an individual family's movement toward self-sufficiency, it is also absolutely necessary if we hope to develop our democracy."

For more information, go to the DHS Web site.