Several minutes later…
Ok, so I’m doing my own research. According to the voter registration guide at http://www.fec.gov/votregis/pdf/nvra.pdf (sorry I don’t know the html tags):

“A few States ask for your race or ethnic group, in order to administer the Federal Voting Rights Act. To find out if your State asks for this information, see item 8 in the instructions
under your State. If so, put in Box 8 the choice that best describes you from the list below:
American Indian or Alaskan Native
Asian or Pacific Islander
Black, not of Hispanic Origin
Hispanic
Multi-racial
White, not of Hispanic Origin
Other”

The instructions for box 8 in NY say “Leave Blank.” In California, likewise. In NC, however, the instructions are a little confusing. They say, “8. Race or Ethnic Group. You are required to fill in this box. However, your application will not be rejected if you fail to do so. See the list of choices under the Application Instructions
for Box 8 (on page 2).” So, you are required to fill it in, but you are not required. Huh?
And then in Michigan, where John Pappageorge would have you booted off the polling lists for filling in box 8 with your black ethnicity, the instructions say “Leave Blank.”
Ideally, in states like NC, people would defy the requirement and leave box 8 blank as a gesture of civil defiance.
Quickly scanning through the states, I count 39, including the District of Columbia, which instruct their voters (if the voters refer to the instructions at all) to leave box 8 blank. Two states, Alabama and North Carolina, say it is required information, but the application will not be rejected if left blank. Four states request the information, Florida, Louisiana, Georgia, and Pennsylvania. Tennessee lists the box as “Optional.” North Dakota and Wyoming respectively do not have voter registration (???) and cannot accept this form. Two states, Hawaii and Wisconsin, say the information is “Not Required” (which offers a slightly different psychological pressure on the voter filling out the form from those states which simply say “Leave Blank.”) And finally South Carolina instructs voters that the box is required and the form “may be rejected if left blank.”