online registration

Thanks to great work by Oregon Bus Project founder-turned state legislator Jefferson Smith (and other legislators), online voter registration is about to become a reality in Oregon:

Online Voter Registration Approved by Senate

Online registration plan is simple, secure and has proven successful

SALEM – The Senate today voted in favor of HB 2386, which would allow Oregonians to register to vote online. Online voter registration creates a new avenue to register that is simple, hassle-free and, above all, secure.

"Oregonians pay bills online, check bank accounts online, rent movies online, pay taxes online. We can change our address with the US Postal Service and DMV online. With this bill, we will move our voter registration system into the 21st century by allowing people to register to vote online,” said Representative Ben Cannon (D-Portland), who is the Chief Co-Sponsor of the bill along with Representative Jefferson Smith (D-Portland). "This bill takes a significant step toward a secure, hassle-free system of voter registration."

House Bill 2386 would allow eligible voters with valid Oregon Driver Licenses or ID cards to register to vote online through a secure connection on the Secretary of State website. A registrant’s signature from DMV will be used to match against the signature on the ballot. A registrant would first have to indicate under penalty of law that they are a citizen and that they are at least 17 years old, just like on the current form.

“HB 2386 represents a lot of work by folks who are passionate about access to democracy,” said Representative Jefferson Smith (D-Portland). “This bill’s passage is a milestone in Oregon’s voter access movement. We believe that democracy works better if more people do it.”

HB 2386 would model Oregon’s online voter registration system on those of Washington and Arizona, where the programs have proven extremely popular. In 2003, the first year of Arizona's Online Voter Registration program, 25% of all new voter registrations were done online. In 2007, that percentage jumped to 72%. After Washington implemented online voter registration, 1,634 online applications were recorded in the first three days and 38% of all Washington voter registrations in 2008 were done online.

“Oregon needs laws that make registering to vote accessible and easy for every eligible voter,” said Secretary of State Kate Brown. “This is simple, stable and will bring more voters, especially younger voters, into the process of shaping Oregon’s future.”

HB 2386 is headed back to the House for concurrence on Senate amendments. It will then head to the Governor for his signature.

Now we need to see movement on more reforms that can make voter registration and participation painless, like automatic registration or election day registration.

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.

The voter registration press releases are streaming into my mailbox nonstop today.

From Rock the Vote:

As many states' voter registration deadlines come to a close tonight, Rock the Vote is celebrating Morgan Reed-Parker, a 17 year old from North Carolina, our 2 millionth registration of the 2008 election cycle. Rock the Vote's 2008 registration campaign, the largest youth registration drive in history, has engaged young people from all 50 states and D.C. in this election through online, mobile, and grassroots outreach

Technically, Morgan is not the 2 millionth person to register to vote, but the 2 millionth person to download/start the voter registration process using Rock the Vote's voter registration widget. In 2004, Rock the Vote had an 80% fullfillment rate with their online registration campaign. If that number holds true, then Morgan is ~ the 1.6 millionth person to register to vote via RTV. Still an absolutely amazing number.

Overseas Vote Foundation reports great success at registering young expats:

Of the nearly 90,000 voters it [OVF] has helped to register, 26 percent are first-time voters and for 70 percent this is the first time they will vote from overseas. More than one-third are younger than 30. The voting experience of these new and young voters is significant because it could affect their inclination to vote again in the future,... '

A staffer from the Overseas Vote Foundation expressed great hope that they might register up to 50,000 young Americans overseas before the deadlines hit.

I just heard from the California Young Democrats that Governor Schwarzenegger signed a bill allowing online voter registration in California, making the state one of only three in the nation to allow its citizens to fully complete the voter registration process online (Arizona and Washington are the two other states).

Congrats to the CYD's who made phone calls and wrote letters to drum up support for the bill.

Soon registering to vote in California will be as easy as a few keystrokes, thanks to Senate Bill 381 (Calderon), which Governor Schwarzenegger signed today. The measure will usher in the era of online voter registration in California.

"Californians can pay bills and file their taxes online. Being able to register to vote online is the next logical step in making it easier for Californians to participate fully in their democracy," said Secretary of State Debra Bowen, California's chief elections officer. "This measure prevents fraud by limiting online voter registration to people who confirm their identity in a secure manner."

The online registration system will require registrants to provide their birth dates, the last four digits of their Social Security numbers, and the numbers from either a valid California driver's license or identification card. The Secretary of State may require additional information if it's necessary to establish a registrant's identity.

Registrants will be able to complete voter registration online using their digitized signatures that are already on file with the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

Steve Fenberg, my good buddy at New Era Colorado, sent me a note on Facebook today about some good things happening in Colorado.

In recent news you've heard about the exciting possibility of various non-profit organizations who are registering huge numbers of people online with their various tools available for such finery.

The state of Colorado is pushing a piece of legislation through that would enable anyone in the state to register online via a secure server through the state. (currently only Arizona and Washington State does)

The bill has passed through the Senate and will be heard in the House tomorrow or Monday. Learn more and write your Rep now. This one is important! Takes 2 seconds

Secondly, CO is working to join with a few other states and counties across the country that are allowing 17 year-olds to caucus if they will be 18 by the November election.

The efforts were begun by Denver Science and Tech senior Sam Brasch. This happened when Sam got screwed by being able to participate in the Colorado Caucuses this year.

The language reads

"Ten other states allow 17-year-olds to participate in the nomination process. Colorado could become the eleventh. The state could encourage teens to become politically active in high school and force politicians to be aware of teen concerns. Colorado could recognize a simple moral claim: if you can choose between the two final candidates, you should be allowed to choose amongst the larger pool."

Sign Sam's petition here

Sorry for the short post, we're having tornadoes again tonight...

A few weeks back, I wrote a post about the number of new voters that had registered using the Rock the Vote/CREDO Action Widget and the Declare Yourself online registration form. At the time, I noted that all together over half a million new young voters had been registered this cycle.

This was incorrect.

Those figures did not represent the total number of registrations, but rather the total number of people who had accessed one of the two online registration tools and downloaded the registration form. As of yet there are no confirmed numbers for how many new voters actually complete the registration process.

For what it is worth, I’m told that somewhere between 70 to 80 percent of people do complete the registration process by election day (based on numbers from 2004).

In the last week I've spoken to people from Declare Yourself and Rock the Vote, the two nonpartisan organizations making a major push to register voters via online registration. So far, it looks like they are both kicking ass and taking names.

According to Rock the Vote, as of Thursday over 300,000 18-29 year olds had used the RTV/CREDO Action widget to register young voters. About another 123,000 voters older than 30 had also registered via the tool. According to Declare Yourself, 260,000 young people have registered via their website so far this cycle.

That means that over half a million new young voters were added to the rolls so far this cycle. In 2004, Rock the Vote registered 1.2 million new young voters, 800,000 of which went to the polls. It's barely February and they've already achieved 1/4 of their previous total. And the folks at Declare Yourself believe that they are on track to exceed their stated target of 2 million new young voters.

This is huge for Democrats and for the youth vote community.