House Committee to Consider Bill Providing for Same-Day Voter Registration
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Starting today at noon, the Delaware House Administration Committee will consider legislation including HS 1 for HB 25, providing for same-day voter registration at polling places.
The current voter registration deadline is the fourth Saturday prior to the date of the election.
Livestream of the meeting will be available here.
Excerpts of Testimony by Common Cause Delaware Executive Director Claire-Snyder Hall
Common Cause Delaware fully supports HS1 for HB25, a same-day registration bill that would make Election Day the last day that Delawareans can register to vote, update their address or correct mistakes on the voter rolls.
We believe all eligible voters should have the freedom to vote, unimpeded by early registration deadlines. Even people who do not pay attention until the week before the election or who have recently moved should not be faced with barriers to voting. In fact, the most common reason people use election-day registration (also known as same-day registration) in the 21 states that allow it is to update their address, and in Delaware Census data show that 12% of the population moves every year, so passing HS1 for HB25 would advance the goal of universal voter participation….
Same-day registration would remove a barrier to voting that disproportionately affects voters in Black and brown communities, low-income voters, and young voters. People who work multiple jobs or have less autonomy at work, those dealing with health issues, the demands of parenting young children, or any other number of things, could benefit from same-day registration. No Delawarean should be denied the freedom to vote because they missed an arbitrary and pointless early deadline to register.
Finally, we know from the experiences of other states that implementing same-day registration would not be burdensome or costly. In fact, some states have found that the process is easier to manage than accepting and verifying paper provisional ballots…
Read her full testimony here.