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Why Progressives Should Be Fighting for Election Day Registr

Daily newsbrief journal for April 2007, also see http://www.usdemocrats.com/brief for a global 100-page perpetual brief and follow twitter @usdemocrats


Why Progressives Should Be Fighting for Election Day Registr

Postby admin » Sat Jan 28, 2012 12:06 pm

Why Progressives Should Be Fighting for Election Day Registration« Thread Started on Apr 6, 2007, 3:54am » --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Why Progressives Should Be Fighting for Election Day Registration (3 comments ) read at source> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joel-bark ... 4.htmlFrom the universal suffrage to the abolition of poll taxes and literacy tests, the history of voting has been a steady -and certainly slow- march towards making it easier for more people to vote. We've come far, but if you take a moment to remember the last time you registered I'm sure you'll agree we still have a ways to go. At present, most states have arbitrary cutoff dates before elections, after which you cannot register to vote. Why? No good reason. If you've ever moved around the time of an election you know the catch-22: Vote in your previous state, which is illegal, or don't vote in your new one.Likewise, the most intense effort to persuade voters is in those last few weeks and months of a campaign. During that time, candidates are persuading registered voters, but essentially have to ignore those eligible to vote, but not registered. The fact is, many people don't start thinking about the election until it's too late for them to register.For democracy to work well, voting must work well, and unnecessary and arbitrary exclusion from elections is harmful to the whole process. Some states have already figured this out and solved the problem by instituting election day registration, or other extended registration periods prior to elections.Specifically, Election Day Registration functions to increase turnout among certain segments of the population more likely to encounter registration problems:* People Who Move -- Huge portions of the population move between Presidential elections. In many cases, especially for people who move frequently, updating voter registration is easy to forget. EDR ensures that mobile doesn't have to mean unmobilized.* Young People -- Young voters are a huge beneficiary of EDR in part because they move so often. States with Election Day Registration have noticed large suarges in youth voting.* Historically Disenfranchised Voters -- Voters who have faced discrimination historically are still among the most likely to face registration errors, often through no fault of their own.Seven states already have extended registration and unsurprisingly, five of those states have the top five places for average voter turnout. Demos, a leading a non-partisan public policy research and good government advocacy organization recently found that EDR increases turnout by 10-12%. In Minnesota, which has had extended registration for 33 years, has the highest turnout rate in the country.Thankfully the other states are taking a hint and EDR is gaining momentum in legislatures nationwide. Just yesterday, Iowa Governor Chet Culver signed EDR into law.The North Carolina House recently passed extended registration (66-45) and the bill is scheduled in front of the Senate (S195). Elsewhere, EDR bills have passed in the Hawaii House and the Washington Senate and are being considering in California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, and Oregon.Most critics cite the potential for voter fraud, but very few, if any documented cases of fraud have been confirmed in states with extended registration. Moreover, it seems safer to place the registration process in the hands of trained election officials, as opposed to DMV employees with no special training. Additionally, EDR bills usually include provisions making voter fraud a felony. So in the end, EDR may be more secure from voter fraud.The fact is, voting and registration has been expanded and streamlined over the years, but it's still got problems. EDR is one safe and simple way to combat these issues and increase civic participation. Expect to see some more states join Iowa this year and in the future as they see that EDR makes sense and works.Send to a friendPost a CommentPrint PostRead all posts by Joel Barkin
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