EDR vs. Voter ID: How Will We Run Our Elections?

There are likely four reasons why youth turnout in Iowa and New Hampshire has been so high:

1. Outreach by the campaigns - particularly the Obama campaign
2. Continued outreach by organizations outside the Democratic Party that has been ongoing since 2004.
3. A civic spirit and anger at the current state of the country among Millennials.

The fourth reason, and I think one of the untold stories about both the Iowa Caucuses and the New Hampshire Primary, is that both states practice EDR: Election Day Registration.

Election Day reports of record turnouts saw may precincts running out of ballots and demanding more from the SOS office, particularly in some college towns. The Progressive State Network is already reporting that in at least one precinct, EDR made up 10% of all voters. National studies by Demos and Election Line have shown that states with EDR have significantly higher turnout, and that EDR can be a huge boost to youth participation, increasing turnout by as much as 14% among younger voters. As I've written before, this is already the case in Iowa, New Hampshire, Minnesota, Maine, Montana, Idaho, Wisconsin and Wyoming. And there are active campaigns to implement EDR happening in California, Maryland, Michigan, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon and Vermont. If we're looking to expand the electorate and bring more people - particularly young people - into the political system, expanding EDR to all states is clearly a necessary first step.

This has been, and likely will continue to be, a battleground between those who want greater youth participation - and greater participation overall - and those who don't. Even as Iowa and New Hampshire are showing us the benefits of lowering barriers to participation, conservatives are working to raise more barriers to keep poor, elderly, black, and young people away from the polls. A voter ID law originating in Indiana is currently before the Supreme Court, and it is likely that the Roberts Court will uphold the law. As Steve Rosenfeld notes in a piece on AlterNet, it is laws like these that keep voter turnout rates so low among certain groups - particularly young people and african americans:

The real barrier to student voting in 2008 is not admonitions from the Clintons. It is a patchwork of state laws, according to Rosenfeld, that discourage student voting. Arizona, for instance, rejects out-of-state driver's licenses as an acceptable voter ID. The same is true in Indiana. New Hampshire requires students to register at local government offices. Virginia allows local election officials to decide if a dormitory qualifies as a "domicile." Some do, Rosenfeld said, and some do not. New Mexico restricts the number of voter registration forms one person may carry at a time. And Texas has new penalties for "improperly" helping people with absentee ballots.

Many of these laws -- particularly the voter ID laws and restrictions on registration drives -- have come into effect since the last presidential election. State legislatures, usually with Republican majorities, adopted the measures to combat "voter fraud," or what the GOP has said is people impersonating other voters for partisan benefit. What's notable about these laws is they affect an entire state electorate, while the problems provoking their adoption almost always concern a handful of individuals. That disparity has led many voting rights advocates to say these laws are meant to discourage Democratic voters.

These laws do little to make our elections more secure or reliable. Actual instances of voter fraud of the kind that could be prevented by stricter ID laws is virtually non-existent. All these laws do is limit the size of the electorate to keep certain groups out of the ballot box. I know it's hard to focus on anything other than the election during a Presidential cycle - and for all I know very little chance of implementing new voting laws until after November. But come January 2009, implementing EDR should be one of the primary goals of youth groups - non partisan and partisan alike. Higher turnout is the key to getting more power for young people in our political system.