Conclusion
This analysis of FEC methodology, statistics, and data presentation is instructive on two, distinct levels. First, the recent growth in voter registration is not part of an historic trend. Since 1960, voter registration has barely kept pace with the nation’s increasing population. Increased registration since 1992 could well represent nothing more than a minor blip in long-term trends. As in 1960 and 1980, registration can sharply increase only to decline again ten years later.
Moreover, the 1960s and early 1970s witnessed several major reforms in voting procedure that were specifically designed to increase voter registration. Their collective failure is cause for concern. It also should be cause for skepticism about the "Motor Voter" law’s realistic potential for substantially improving voter registration, when four dramatic policy changes could not.
Second, voting statistics that appear on the FEC’s website are often inaccurate and inconsistent with other statistics elsewhere on the site. Many tout the information revolution’s empowering characteristics, but if misinformation reigns, the revolution fails. The FEC has a reputation as a reliable source for campaign finance and voter participation statistics and information; countless students, researchers, and concerned citizens visit its site every day, and do not think twice about the accuracy and reliability of the information that they find. Too frequently, that information is false and misleading.