Online and ready to vote.

• Author: Underhill, Wendy
• Position: Online voter registration - Trends

Online voter registration. Although the phrase doesn't have much pizzazz, the concept undeniably does. And it's storming the states like no other elections-related trend in recent memory.

In 2008, only two states allowed eligible citizens to complete a voter registration application online by using personal data stored at the motor vehicle agency. Now, 26 states do--and at least three more are lined up to join the crowd soon.

As the online voter registration trend has developed, legislators have found solutions to several big concerns along the way.

In 2008, when only Arizona and Washington had online voter registration, the concern was over people who didn't have access to computers. What would they do? The answer: Make online registrations a supplement to, not a replacement of, registrations by mail or at the motor vehicle bureau (the most common way people register).

By 2010, when Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Oregon and Utah introduced online registration, the questions had turned to costs. Would going online save taxpayer money or end up costing more? The answer: Setup cost for a mid-size state is roughly $250,000. After that, states save money on every registration transaction because they don't have to pay to re-key information. (A Pew study found that in Arizona, for example, registrations on paper cost 83 cents to process, while an online transaction cost 3 cents.)

In 2012, when California, Maryland, Nevada, New York and South Carolina had joined the group, the question turned political. Which party benefits? The answer: Neither. Online registrations are in proportion to the number of Democrats and Republicans in the state, and are not skewed either way.

In 2014, when Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota and Missouri came aboard...