2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumDemocrats focus on voter registration, senators create plan to register 50 million new voters
Democrats focus on voter registration, senators create plan to register 50 million new votersby Joan McCarter at the Daily Kos
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/7/16/1548720/-Democrats-focus-on-voter-registration-senators-create-plan-to-register-50-million-new-voters
"SNIP..............
Markos has said it again and again, if our voters turn out, we win. That's a message that's not lost on the DNC, which has adopted a platform with a strong focus on voter rights, including universal voter registration, which could add 50 million new voters.
Now congressional Democrats are backing that up by introducing the most comprehensive federal automatic-voter-registration bills in the House and Senate. The Automatic Voter Registration Act of 2016 is sponsored by Representative Bob Brady and Senators Patrick Leahy, Dick Durbin, and Amy Klobuchar. (A similar bill was introduced in the House last year by Rhode Island Democrat David Cicilline with 100 co-sponsors.) No Republicans have signed on to the House or Senate version. [ ]
This [the legislation] will make voter registration far easier, cheaper, and more accurate. There is no reason why every eligible citizen cannot have the option of automatic registration when they visit the DMV, sign up for healthcare, or sign up for classes in college, says Leahy, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee. We live in a modern world, and we should strive to have a registration system that reflects that.
It's pretty basic stuff. All of the federal and state agencies that are now required to provide the opportunity to customers to register to vote would simply automatically enroll them. "There is no reason," as Leahy explained, "why every eligible citizen cannot have the option of automatic registration when they visit the DMV, sign up for healthcare, or sign up for classes in college."
................SNIP"
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,089 posts)yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)I went for a new drivers license and they asked two things. Do you want to donate organs and do you want to register to vote. I said yes to both. I can't believe all states don't do this.
wildeyed
(11,243 posts)They would not even ask if you wanted to register, you would just be registered automatically. Which is great!
yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)wildeyed
(11,243 posts)I assume they would be given the option of picking a party on the form, but it would not be required. If they didn't, I guess they would be assigned as unaffiliated. In my state, unaffiliated voters can choose which primary to vote in, so it is not a problem here if they are undeclared and decide to participate at the last moment. And even in closed primary states, they can still vote in the GE.
People here are still tender about the recent primary, but the reality, very few voters participate in primary elections. I hope that if we can encourage more GE participation, then more primary voters will follow.
Qutzupalotl
(14,348 posts)This was a point Bernie kept making that there is no reason not to do it. Glad to see it gaining steam.
LuvLoogie
(7,082 posts)IronLionZion
(45,680 posts)I definitely registered when I got my license last year. But when I went to vote in the primary the system did not have me. Thankfully we have same day registration so I could still vote. There were issues in many areas, especially urban ones where people are more transient.
sheshe2
(84,101 posts)AgadorSparticus
(7,963 posts)I thought that was standard everywhere.....