Should Voter Registration Be Automatic?

• Author: Perez, Myrna

The number of Americans who voted in 2018 set a record for a midterm election. Even with the higher-than-usual turnout, just half of those who were eligible to vote actually cast ballots. Compared with other democracies, the United States has long had low voter turnout rates (see graph, p. 5). One possible way to increase the number of people voting is to make it easier to register to vote. Some states have started automatically registering those eligible when they apply for a driver's license.

Two public policy experts--one at a liberal election reform organization and the other from a conservative think tank--debate whether making voter registration automatic in this way is a good idea.

YES

Voting is the foundation of American democracy, and registering to vote is one of the first steps toward participating. Registering to vote shouldn't be a stumbling block to electing representatives or supporting policies that we believe in. That's why we should make voter registration automatic.

With the technology that we use in our everyday lives, we can make registering to vote as simple and efficient as liking a friend's post online.

The process is called automatic voter registration. It allows you to register when you first get, or when you renew, your driver's license. The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) will inform you that your information will be used to register you to vote unless you say you don't want to. No one has to get registered to vote. In some states, you can even preregister to vote at the DMV when you're 16 or 17, and then automatically become registered when you turn 18.

In 2016, Oregon became the first state in the nation to implement automatic voter registration. More than 390,000 new voters registered as a result. And in 2018, 62 percent of eligible voters cast ballots, up from 53 percent in 2014, the previous midterm election.

Automatic voter registration is more efficient because your registration information is electronically transferred to election officials instead of being sent in paper form. Streamlining the process saves money, makes the voter rolls more accurate, and could add an additional 50 million voters to the rolls permanently across the country.

This is a nonpartisan policy that is popular In both red states and blue states. In the past five years, 16 states and the District of Columbia have approved using this approach to register eligible voters.

Young people are eager to get involved and have an impact...