Policy

Automatic and Same-Day Voter Registration

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All U.S. citizens should be allowed to vote, not just the ones who jump through the various hoops required by their state. The modernization of voter registration can help the 50 million eligible American voters who aren’t registered to become more easily involved. 

Automatic voter registration utilizes existing government entities to gather reliable information about eligible citizens automatically registers them to vote. This system creates an infrastructure for increased accuracy of voting records and establishes an electronic system that is cheaper and easier to update. Not only does it make the voting process more convenient for voters, it has shown to increase voter registration rates by over 60%.

Same-day registration is another form of modernized voter registration that enables eligible citizens to submit their ballots with more ease. 21 states have enacted same-day registration, which allows any qualified resident of the state to go to register to vote and cast a ballot all on the same day. States that have implemented this option have seen a 3% to 7% increase in voter turnout. 

In order to improve voter participation, we have to ensure that we provide every eligible American access to a convenient and secure way to register to vote.

Problems to be Solved

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    Voting is a right of citizenship that should be made as easy as possible.
  • Why do we make it such a headache to register to vote?  When you turn 18 you should be automatically enrolled.  Other countries do this and, shocker, their voting rates are higher.

Goals

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    Automatically enroll all American citizens to vote when they hit the voting age

As President I will...

  • Work with Congress to set automatic voter registration requirements for federal elections.
  • Require all federal elections to offer opportunities for same-day voter registration.
  • Provide funding to states to update their voter enrollment systems to electronic ones, and to integrate with federal systems, as well as each other, to ensure up-to-date voter information and easy transfer of data.