Online voter registration in Oregon: towards an election administration triple bottom line.

• Author: Tischenko, Alex G.

INTRODUCTION

If hanging chads and provisional ballots were the top election administration controversies of the 2000 and 2004 elections, then voter registration was undoubtedly the defining issue of the historic 2008 election. (1) States were flooded with more than 60 million voter registration applications between 2006 and 2008. (2) Legal clashes over the actions of registration drives and purging practices of statewide voter registration databases saw progressives decrying unnecessarily restrictive policies that could result in eligible registrants left off the rolls, while conservative groups invoked the specter of fraudulently obtained registrations. (3)

At the center of this massive logistical challenge and rash of bitterly contested litigation was the humble paper voter registration card, delivered by the millions to county elections offices to be processed, transcribed, and matched to driver's license or social security records. The system of paper-based voter registration is both enormously expensive and prone to human error at every step along the way: registrants commonly omit required information and write illegibly, and county elections offices inevitably commit transcription errors. (4) Millions of voter registrations that can't be matched to government records are the natural result, which threatens the right of qualified registrants to cast a ballot on Election Day and fuels fears of fraudulent voter registration practices.

Partisan conflict over election administration practices shows no sign of abating. But online voter registration, a recent election administration policy innovation pioneered by state legislatures, promises to bridge the partisan divide and unite election reformers, budget hawks, and voter fraud watchers around an election administration triple bottom line (5): increasing participation, decreasing costs, and improving integrity.

Online voter registration went live in Arizona by 2002, but it wasn't until 2008 that the state of Washington had joined Arizona in rolling out a system of its own. By the end of 2009, Oregon, Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Utah, and California had passed online voter registration legislation, and at least four other state legislatures had introduced bills proposing similar systems. (6) While online voter registration has attracted press coverage and praise from commentators across the political spectrum, (7) it has received limited analysis by academics and policy experts. (8) This Note focuses on online voter registration legislation in Oregon as a case study of the second wave of states to adopt such a system. (9)

Online voter registration enhances Oregon's traditional, paper-based voter registration system in three primary ways. First, online registration lowers barriers to registration and decreases errors in the registration process. In these respects, Oregon House Bill 2386 aimed to boost overall rates of registration and turnout among eligible voters generally, and young voters in particular.

Second, online voter registration eliminates the need for costly data entry and processing of paper voter registration cards, yielding considerable savings to cash-strapped state and local governments.

Third, when combined with well-designed statewide voter registration databases, (10) electronic data transaction standards, and eligibility verification processes, online voter registration further reduces the already low risk of voter registration fraud and helps ensure the integrity of ballots cast on election day.

1. BROAD SUPPORT FOR OREGON'S ONLINE VOTER REGISTRATION BILL

   Oregon's reputation as an innovator in election administration stems from its first-in-the-nation adoption of a statewide vote-by-mail system, credited with increasing turnout among registered voters, reducing costs, and increasing election security. (11) But vote-by-mail's requirement that a voter have her current residence address on file in order to receive a ballot negatively affects the participation of highly mobile populations: young people, low income people, recent immigrants, and communities of color, in particular. (12)

   Such concerns weighed upon thirty-one-year-old Representative Ben Cannon, who drafted and introduced Oregon House Bill 2386 (HB 2386) after receiving an email from a young college student asking why Oregon hadn't followed the lead of Washington and Arizona in establishing an online voter registration system. (13)

   A coalition of online voter registration stakeholders coalesced early in the legislative session. Supporters included Cannon, nationally recognized youth-vote advocate Representative Jefferson Smith, key budget negotiator Senator Richard Devlin, good-government organizations like the League of Women Voters, youth-vote organizations like the Oregon Student Association and the Oregon Bus Project, and newly elected Secretary of State Kate Brown. Finally, the coalition benefited from the enthusiastic support of an unlikely partner: Representative Sal Esquivel, a self-described conservative and cosponsor of a controversial voter ID bill. (14)

   HB 2386 directs the Secretary of State to adopt by rule an electronic voter registration system, and outlines a few specific requirements for the system. Most significantly, the bill mandates that only those who possess a valid Oregon driver's license, driver's permit, or state identification card may use the online voter registration system. (15) The bill further instructs the state Department of Transportation to provide the Secretary of State with a digital copy of the relevant state ID for every person who submits her registration online. (16) Since online registrants can't "sign" their registration online, county elections offices need a digital image of registrants' signatures from their state IDs to verify the signature on the voters' ballot envelopes.

   In the middle of the worst recession in a generation, even the most worthy new initiative that depended on state funds would have been dead on arrival. However, the bill's advocates were able to draw entirely upon federal funds appropriated under the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) for the upgrading of state electoral systems. The Secretary of State budgeted one-time costs of $200,000 for the development of the voter registration system itself, and $17,000 for the development of a mechanism to transfer registrants' digital signatures from the DMV. During the first budget cycle in which the system will be fully operational, the Secretary of State projected $22,000 in operating costs. (17)

   HB 2386 underwent minor technical amendments and faced no organized opposition, passing the House and Senate with broad--but not unanimous--bipartisan majorities, (18) and Governor Ted Kulongoski signed it into law in August 2009. Once the specifications for the system are settled through administrative rulemaking, (19) the Secretary of State will put the project out to bid, and the system is scheduled to go live by March 2010.

2. ONLINE VOTER REGISTRATION ACHIEVES THE ELECTION ADMINISTRATION TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE: ACCESS, EFFICIENCY, INTEGRITY

   1. Online Voter Registration Increases Participation

      It's no secret that the number of voting-eligible American citizens far outstrips the number of citizens who participate in the electoral process by voting. In Oregon, although turnout is relatively high among registered voters, the fact remains that more than twenty percent of eligible Oregonians are not registered to vote and thus do not participate. (20)

      The causes of American under-participation are many and varied; the modern requirement that citizens register to vote is undoubtedly one. (21) Voter registration requirements not only prevent eligible but unregistered voters from participating, but they can also prevent registered voters from casting a ballot. One recent nationwide survey found that registration problems were either a major or minor factor in preventing at least twenty percent of registered non-voters from participating in the 2008 election, accounting for roughly 2.2 million lost votes. (22)

      From an expanding access perspective, problems with voter registration policies and procedures can be generally divided into two major categories: those that make eligible citizens less likely to register to vote and participate in the first place, and those that make citizens who actually submit a voter registration form less likely to cast a ballot on election day. Online voter registration addresses both the "front end" and the "back end" in significant, but limited ways.

      1. Online Voter Registration Reduces Barriers to Registration

         In contrast to many other industrialized democracies, the act of registering to vote in the United States is voluntary and the responsibility of the voter. (23) Such a diffusion of responsibility erects barriers to registration beyond voters' simple lack of desire to register.

         One major barrier is the number of times a voter must register to vote. Since voting is tied to place of residence, more transient citizens--who tend to be younger and poorer--have to fill out voter registration cards more often, which entails more trips to the library, election office, or DMV. (24)

         Another barrier is knowledge and experience in dealing with voter registration practices and government bureaucracies in general. (25) Many registered voters, especially in Oregon, don't know that because the post office cannot forward mailed ballots, voters must update their registration every time they move. (26) Confusing rules and instructions as well as unpredictable international mail delivery lowers the registration rates of overseas and active duty military service members. (27) Finally, perhaps as many as twenty percent of young would-be voters simply miss voter registration deadlines. (28)

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