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Election Day Registration

The vast majority of states have registration deadlines weeks before election day. This schedule poses problems for busy Americans who simply forget to register or re-register after moving and find themselves unable to vote on election day. During the 2000 presidential election alone, nearly 3 million voters were disenfranchised due to registration problems. Luckily, a simple solution is available — election day registration (EDR).

Any registration problem that may arise can easily be solved by allowing the voter to register or re-register right at the polling place. EDR also reduces the need for provisional ballots, which are used when a voter's registration is in question. More importantly, while provisional ballots often go uncounted, election day registration provides certainty to citizens that their votes will count. Election day registration also functions to increase turnout among certain segments of the population more likely to encounter registration problems: people who move frequently, young people, and historically disenfranchised voters.

The statistics for voter turnout in states with election day registration are striking and point to the system’s potential to renew democracy in America:

74% of eligible voters participated in states with election day registration in 2004, compared to only 60% in non-EDR states. Turnout was higher for both safe and battleground states.
The top four states for voter turnout in 2004 had EDR.

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Election Day Registration Statutes

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From the Dispatch

State Policymakers Need to Respond to Growing Clout of Latino Voters Nationwide

Feb 18, 2010

A recent report from the advocacy group America’s Voice highlighted the growing power of Latino voters in the upcoming 2010 elections. Latino voters played a critical role in 2008 to propel President Obama to victory in several key swing states that previously trended Republican, including Virginia. Latino voter registration and turnout rates have exploded over the past few years: roughly 10 million voted in the 2008 Presidential election alone, a 2.5 million increase from 2004 and 4 million person increase since 2000. Latino voter registration grew by over 54% between 2000 and 2008, and turnout grew 64% over the same time period.
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Universal Voter Registration: A New Initiative to Increase Electoral Participation and Reduce Voter Suppression

Dec 01, 2008

The elections of 2008 served as a critical test of the nation's election systems. With changes in voting machines and procedures, coupled with expectations of record voter turnout, election administrators held their breath and hoped their system wouldn't fail.

While the system didn't fail, voters faced serious obstacles in exercising their right to vote. Voter registration ended up being the problem that affected the largest number of voters. Even before the first votes were cast, it was apparent that our voter registration systems were woefully inadequate. While in other nations 90% or more of the eligible voter population is registered to vote, in the United States less than 75% of eligible voters are registered.

We can do better.

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Ohio's Week of Same-Day Voting Upheld

Oct 02, 2008

The biggest electoral dust-up this summer in Ohio has been the attempt to overturn Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner’s decision to allow voters to register and vote on the same day during a one week period from September 30th to October 6th. This resulted from an overlap between the beginning of early voting and the end of voter registration, 30 days before the election. The Ohio Republican Party, nervous that progressive groups planned to target get out the vote efforts during same day voting, sued in state court. Their claim was that the practice would violate the state requirement that a person be registered 30 days before an election in order to vote. The ACLU, in concert with a number of voting rights advocates, filed a counter-suit to enforce the Secretary of State’s decision in federal court.

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Making Voting Easier Assists Record Turnout in Presidential Primaries

Mar 11, 2008

Interest in the presidential election has been extremely strong throughout the primary season. As a result many states have experienced voter turnout that is significantly higher than past elections. This trend has been especially striking among young voters who have doubled and tripled their rates of participation in many states. Enabling this turnout have been a number of reforms, from early voting to election day registration to mail-in voting procedures that have encouraged wider participation.
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