Automatic Voter Registration Works…And Here Is The Evidence To Prove It

Voting is one of the fundamental ways Americans can make their voices heard in our democracy. But too often, the process of registering to vote can be tricky, confusing, and complicated. That’s one of the reasons why Common Cause has a nationwide campaign to push for a new innovative reform to make the process of voter registration more convenient and secure. It’s called automatic voter registration (AVR).

It works like this: when you do business with certain government agencies, like getting your drivers’ licenses from the DMV, you will be automatically registered to vote unless you decide to opt-out. It’s a simple, convenient way to get more eligible citizens registered to vote so they have the opportunity to make their voices heard. By consolidating the number of different places a state keeps records, AVR can also modernize our voter registration systems so they are more secure and save the state money.

Thirteen states plus Washington, DC have adopted some form of automatic voter registration. Massachusetts is on the verge of being the 14^th state, with a bipartisan AVR bill waiting to be signed by Gov. Massachusetts. Additionally, an AVR measure is on the ballot this year in Nevada and could also be on the ballot in Michigan.

So, you may be asking: does automatic voter registration really work? The answer is yes. States that have already implemented AVR programs have released data that shows an increase in the number of people who have taken advantage of this new program. Here are a few examples:

In Illinois, the state Board of Elections recently announced that 20,000 people have updated their voter registration or registered to vote for the first time in just the first three weeks since implementing the AVR program.

In Vermont, 12,344 voter registrations were processed or updated at the DMV in the first six months of the program in 2017. This is compared to 7,626 registrations processed during the same time period without AVR in 2016, which is significant since 2016 was an election year and 2017 was not.

In Oregon, the first state to pass AVR, 375,000 new voters registered to vote in the first 18 months of implementing the program.

In California, the DMV processed nearly 800,000 voter registration transactions in just the first three months of the state’s AVR-style Motor Voter program. Those transactions include 393,020 people re-registering to vote, 259,294 people registering as new voters, and 120,016 updating their addresses.

It’s clear that automatic voter registration works. It’s time for more states to reduce the barriers that prevent too many eligible Americans from voting and help build a stronger democracy and election system that works for all voters.