New Era Colorado Ushers Online Registration Bill through State Legislature

Congratulations to Colorado-based youth organizers New Era Colorado for writing and shepherding a bill for online voter registration through their state house and senate. The bill is now on its way to the governor's desk:

Denver, CO - April 23, 2009 – The Colorado Senate voted 33-0 today on a bill that will soon allow Colorado residents to register to vote online at the secure Secretary of State’s website. This bill modernizes the voter registration process in Colorado, significantly increases voter accessibility, and saves taxpayer money.

Only 2 other states, Arizona and Washington, currently provide voters with the option to register to vote online. In Arizona, voter registration numbers increased by 10% in the first year of the online option being available and over 70% of registrations now occur online. When Washington instituted online voter registration in 2008, almost 40% of new voters registered online. In the first six months, half of the new registrants were under the age of 30.

“This bill brings the traditionally complicated and cumbersome voter registration process into the 21st Century. We do almost everything online these days—banking, paying bills, filing taxes—we should be able to do our civic duty of registering to vote online, too,” says Steve Fenberg, Executive Director of New Era Colorado, the lead organization that initiated, drafted, and lobbied the bill in the Legislature.

The online form will allow current Colorado voters to update their registration record with address changes and mail-in ballot status and will allow first time registrants to register to vote online if they have a Colorado Driver’s License or ID. For the first time registrants, the digitized signature from their Driver’s License or ID will be used as the required signature on a voter registration form.

“I think this bill can be a game-changer in Colorado politics—not in terms of Republican or Democrat victories, but in terms of the number of young people engaging in the democratic process. This is a big victory for New Era Colorado and young people across our state,” says Fenberg.

“We see this bill as a long-term opportunity to increase youth registration levels, but we also see it as a near-term opportunity to show our volunteers and interns how to participate in the legislative process,” says Carrie Jackson, Program Director of New Era Colorado. New Era Colorado members helped draft the legislation, wrote thousands of supportive letters to Representatives and Senators, and participated in committee hearings to help pass the online voter registration bill. These volunteers also helped New Era Colorado register over 11,000 young people to vote during the 2008 Election Cycle.

Rep. Joe Miklosi (D-Denver) sponsored the bill in the House, where it a received a 60-4 vote, and Senator Bob Bacon (D-Fort Collins) sponsored it in the Senate. It will soon head to Governor Ritter's desk for signing.