Universal Voter Registration

TPM has a great piece about young people this week, speaking specifically about how our turnout has caused problems in the voting systems because our transient nature apparently causes added paperwork at the county election board.

Now, it seems, some states are moving to the "universal registration" route where 16 year olds become registered the same time as the are getting their driver's license, but of course can't vote until they are 18.

"California and Rhode Island are among the states that have introduced legislation permitting 16- and 17-year-old citizens to register to vote in advance of their 18th birthdays. Rhode Island bills, SB 85 and HB 5005 show promise to pass the legislature - a prospect that is nothing new to the state, which has passed such bills three years in a row only to have them vetoed by the governor, according to research and advocacy group, Fair Vote."

Universal registration is something that Rock the Vote has taken on as their major legislative agenda item and the Student PIRGs have taken on in the past.

Georgia10 from Kos makes a great point about the ACORN attacks this past fall:

"By so vigorously highlighting the very real problems with third-party registration model, the GOP has unwittingly provided the best argument in favor of having the government step in and facilitate a universal registration system. And so, the irony is that in trying to suppress voter turnout by calling even valid registrations into question, Republicans have opened the door to a long-overdue discussion on how best to reform our inherently flawed voter registration system in order to ensure that every American who has the right to vote may do so without redtape barriers."

TPM asserts that by creating a government structure that mandates pre-registration certainly makes things much more convienent, but it also makes it easier to do programming in high schools and at DMVs because you can access the information about young people before they escape to college and out of their parents' home.

"it also helps "boost the effectiveness of civics education by tying it directly to civic participation through the opportunity to preregister," according to a Fair Vote report. The report further notes that "uniform" preregistration laws, like those in Hawaii and Florida, help alleviate general voter registration ills by acting as a "cost-effective step toward greater standardization, which means a cleaner, more accurate data set. Pre-registration could also save money and minimize human error by allowing students to register year round at points of civic engagement and education..."

TPM also had a great piece about the diversity that occurred this election. It was a particularly youthy day over at the TPM - good for them!

In January 2009, about two percent of young voters are or have been on active military duty. And if the size of young voters was around 44 million (PDF) in 2008, then that means roughly 880,000 have served in the military at some point in their lives. If all young military folks were combined into a state, they would be the 45th most populated state, just larger than Vice President Biden’s home state of Delaware.

With the continuing conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, especially given President Obama’s recent order to increase troop levels in Afghanistan, young service members will continue to be abroad serving our country, making it difficult for them to participate in other meaningful ways at home. Voting is one of those ways. A new report by the Overseas Vote Foundation (PDF) on the 2008 election finds that:

“[m]ore than half (52%) of those who tried but could not vote, were unable to because their ballots were late or did not arrive.”

It’s important that active service members and veterans are able to vote, regardless of their stance on the war. Other issues such as veterans health care and educational loans, just to name a few, can be advocated through a representative. So, it’s imperative that folks who have more pressing issues (their day job) on their mind be able to vote easily and accurately.

There are several organizations working on the nexus of voting, military and youth. Some youth-specific groups, such as Rock the Vote and GoVoteAbsentee.org, helped to educate, register and get-out-the-vote of young service members. Military-focused organizations such as Vote Vets and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America also try to activate their communities. Youth Vote Overseas is one organization that directly targets young people abroad. The government runs the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) for overseas and military voters. Despite these efforts, more education and refining of voting rules and laws needs to happen to ensure young service members can exercise their constitutional right. The Overseas report finds that:

“[n]early one-quarter, 23.7%, of experienced overseas voters still have questions or problems when registering to vote.”

That percentage is likely higher for young service members since they are very new to the voting process, especially in a high-stress environment. Moreover, there were logistical problems:

“[l]ate ballot receipt is one of the most significant problems UOCAVA [Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act] voters faced. Of voters who received their ballots, 39 percent received them after mid-October, making it difficult for to return their ballots in time to be counted.”

If ballot did not arrive, deployed soliders are supposed to take advantage of FVAP’s Back-up Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot, but the report finds that over half of overseas voters didn’t even know this back-up ballot was available.

Finally, the report recommends some ways to improve the voting process for overseas citizens are below, but two are especially noteworthy because the youth community is also pushing for legislation to secure election day registration and universal voter registration.

1. We call for ensuring the important role of UOCAVA
through legislative updates, in particular those that pursue
greater uniformity in the application of this key act.
2. We encourage adoption of the anticipated UOCAVA
Uniform Law intended to harmonize UOCAVA implementation
for overseas and military voters across all states
and territories.
3. We suggest the implementation of technology measures including
online ballot request for registered voters and online
blank ballot delivery to alleviate the transmission and
timing difficulties inherent in the UOCAVA equation.
4. We encourage innovation and investment in the Federal
Write-in Absentee Ballot and broadening the practice of
“Same Day Registration and Balloting” for UOCAVA
voters.
5. We underscore the importance of privacy and security
considerations when applying technology to UOCAVA
processes.
6. We propose a willingness to include UOCAVA voters
into any federal “universal voter registration”

Bumped. This is something I really want to see happen in 2009. Universal registration, Election Day Registration, and other voting reforms could make permanent the increases in youth participation we saw this year. I hope voting reforms like this don't get lost in the new administration. --Mike

Following the historic 2008 election and the plethora of problems with voter registrations - from partisan cries of voter fraud by third party registration drives to voter suppression from bad list maintenance procedures - syndicated columnist Robyn Blumner offers a solution: Universal Voter Registration.

"The problems arose because our old system of state-by-state registration rules -- some of which appear designed for a mail system via pony express -- is outmoded and frankly retains vestiges of our racist past," wrote Blumner in a Nov. 23 op-ed . "We need to follow the lead of at least 24 other countries and adopt a system of automatic and permanent voter registration. "

Blumner asserts that problems with voter registration would disappear if state or federal government took responsibility for ensuring every eligible citizen was registered to vote. This would eliminate the need for third-party voter registration drives, cut the "redundant, phony" and illegal cards that "gum up" the voter registration process, and curb voter disenfranchisement from problem-prone procedures, such as "No Match, No Vote," she said.

"But if the pragmatic arguments don't sway, perhaps the moral ones will. Holding onto the current voter registration system is like cleaving to a relic of our disgraced history," she wrote, recalling the origin of voter registration, which along with literacy tests and poll taxes, began "in the late 19th century as a way to tamp down the votes of 'undesirables,'" which meant immigrants and freed slaves.

"Then there is the length of time between registration and the election," she wrote. "While eight states allow registration and voting on the same day, 21 states cut off registration on Oct. 6. We can send money around the world in the blink of an eye, but it apparently takes weeks of lead time to put a voter into a database. Ridiculous."

"Despite the large turnout in the last election, there are still 64 million unregistered voters in the country," she wrote. "Universal registration needs to be tried."