"If I had to pick one reform to improve the accuracy of, access to, and efficiency of the election system in this country it would be a national Election Day Registration law. Election Day Registration, also known as 'same-day registration,' allows eligible voters to register and cast a ballot on Election Day."
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"According to a study by Demos, average voter turnout in Election Day registration states is 10-12 percent higher than other states. Of the five states with the highest rates of voter participation in the 2004 presidential election, four were Election Day Registration states."
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"I would fix our system of voter registration. America is one of the few industrialized democracies that places the onus of registration on the voter. Elsewhere, it's the government that's responsible for building electoral rolls, whether by going door to door or using existing lists."
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"There are so many problems with America's electoral system that it is not easy to know exactly where to begin, but if I had only one choice, I would recommend that all of the states establish a non-partisan, independent, and professional election commission..."
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"The most crucial need we have throughout the nation has always been more poll workers, the backbone of American elections. This November, with voter turnout predicted to be at an all-time high, the need for poll workers is more crucial than ever. "
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Election Day Registration, which allows an eligible citizen to register and then vote on Election Day, would improve American democracy.
According to the CalTech/MIT Voting Technology Project, between 1.5 million and 3 million ballots were lost in 2000 due to voter registration problems. In 2004, the U.S. Census Bureau found that 8.3 million Americans reported that they were unregistered because they missed the registration deadline, did not know where or how to register or did not meet residency requirements by the registration deadline. Moving often requires re-registration, and the most transient Americans — including but not limited to college-students, lower-income Americans and people of color — have lower registration rates. Another 1.1 million Americans who were properly registered did not vote in 2004 because they were confused or uncertain as to their registration status.
Election Day Registration solves these problems. It allows Americans who have been improperly purged, have recently moved, or who have never been registered to simply register and vote at the polls. Currently, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Wyoming have Election Day registration.
Election Day Registration would also help the United States move out of the bottom 19 percent of the world's democracies in voter participation. According to a study by Demos, average voter turnout in Election Day registration states is 10-12 percent higher than other states. Of the five states with the highest rates of voter participation in the 2004 presidential election, four were Election Day Registration states.
Election Day Registration decreases the administrative burdens associated with processing registration applications prior to Election Day, and validating and counting provisional ballots after the polls close. Another Demos study shows that Election Day Registration states have not experienced a greater incidence of voter fraud, and concerns about fraud are particularly unwarranted in states like Indiana that require photo identification to vote.
Introduction
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Eric Marshall
Eric Marshall
Campaign Manager, National Campaign for Fair Elections
Turnout numbers over the past few cycles prove the importance of EDR. A report by Demos ("Voters Win With Election Day Registration") showed that in the 2004 presidential race, EDR states had a 12- percentage-point higher average turnout than non-EDR states. The reason for this increase is simple: In states without EDR, voters with even the slightest problem with their registration and people who missed the registration deadline were unable to cast a ballot that counted or did not go to the polls at all. With EDR, students who live on campus and are motivated to vote for the first time in their new jurisdiction, low-income voters whose economic situation requires them to move often and who do not know the rules about changing their address, voters whose registration was not properly transferred by a social service agency, or voters who had their information entered incorrectly by an overworked election official-- all of them would be able to register and vote on election day. Unfortunately, in most states these voters, and millions of others with similar stories, are simply turned away or given a provisional ballot that goes uncounted.
The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, through its leadership of Election Protection, will continue to work to ensure that every eligible voter is able to cast a ballot that counts for their candidate of choice. A national Election Day Registration law would make our work a lot easier.
Eric Marshall is the campaign manager for the National Campaign for Fair Elections in the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law's Voting Rights Project. In his role as campaign manager, Marshall is the lead organizer for the Lawyers' Committee's leadership of Election Protection and is responsible for coordinating the National Campaign's nationwide network of volunteers, communications with field partners and the media and grassroots mobilization. He is a member of the National Network on State Election Reform. For more information about the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, visit www.lawyerscommittee.org.
Spencer Overton
Spencer Overton
Author of Stealing Democracy and Law Professor at George Washington University
Election Day Registration, which allows an eligible citizen to register and then vote on Election Day, would improve American democracy.
According to the CalTech/MIT Voting Technology Project, between 1.5 million and 3 million ballots were lost in 2000 due to voter registration problems. In 2004, the U.S. Census Bureau found that 8.3 million Americans reported that they were unregistered because they missed the registration deadline, did not know where or how to register or did not meet residency requirements by the registration deadline. Moving often requires re-registration, and the most transient Americans -- including but not limited to college-students, lower-income Americans and people of color -- have lower registration rates. Another 1.1 million Americans who were properly registered did not vote in 2004 because they were confused or uncertain as to their registration status.
Election Day Registration solves these problems. It allows Americans who have been improperly purged, have recently moved, or who have never been registered to simply register and vote at the polls. Currently, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Wyoming have Election Day registration.
Election Day Registration would also help the United States move out of the bottom 19 percent of the world's democracies in voter participation. According to a study by Demos, average voter turnout in Election Day registration states is 10-12 percent higher than other states. Of the five states with the highest rates of voter participation in the 2004 presidential election, four were Election Day Registration states.
Election Day Registration decreases the administrative burdens associated with processing registration applications prior to Election Day, and validating and counting provisional ballots after the polls close. Another Demos study shows that Election Day Registration states have not experienced a greater incidence of voter fraud, and concerns about fraud are particularly unwarranted in states like Indiana that require photo identification to vote.
Spencer Overton is Professor of Law at The George Washington University Law School, and he specializes the law of democracy. Professor Overton is the author of Stealing Democracy: The New politics of Voter Suppression, and his academic articles on election law have appeared in several leading law journals. He was also a commissioner on the Jimmy Carter-James Baker Commission on Federal Election Reform as well as the Commission on Presidential Nomination Timing and Scheduling. Professor Overton currently serves on the boards of Common Cause, Demos, and the American Constitution Society. Professor Overton is currently writing a book on next generation politics.
Renée Paradis
Renée Paradis
Counsel, Brennan Center's Democracy Program
The kind of voter-initiated registration we have today in the United States did not exist until the late 19th century. It was instituted then with the intention of suppressing unpopular voters, especially former slaves and new European immigrants. Registering to vote has gotten easier since then, but it remains a barrier.
In 2001, a commission chaired by Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford concluded, "The registration laws in force throughout the United States are among the world's most demanding ... [and are ] one reason why voter turnout in the United States is near the bottom of the developed world." We see in Election Day that it can be incredibly easy to register to vote -- as in Wisconsin, which offers election day registration -- and that registration can serve as a barrier to voting, even when the voter does everything right, as with Leon Batts in New York, whose registration form wasn't processed by the Board of Elections in time for election day.
A system of universal registration would require states to build complete electoral rolls and to guarantee that no eligible citizen would be unable to vote for want of being on the rolls. (To achieve this latter goal, states would have to allow voters to register on election day, as a failsafe.) Such a system would produce two clear improvements over the current process: (1) more eligible citizens would be registered and able to vote on election day, and (2) election officials could organize the process to avoid last-minute crunches and misallocation of resources.
This system would also have another effect, perhaps less concrete or immediate, but ultimately just as important: The valence of voter registration would change. It would be the obligation of the government to ensure that every eligible American is able to cast a vote on election day. Rather than a problem the voter herself must solve, the government's obligation to register voters would become part of the way we think about the right to vote itself.
Renée Paradis works primarily on the Brennan Center's efforts to reform the process of voter registration, including fighting restrictions on voter registration drives and advocating for student voting rights. She also works on the center's efforts to reenfranchise people with felony convictions and general election reform issues. Before joining the Brennan Center, she was a fellow at the Drug Law Reform Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, and she clerked for Judge Karen Nelson Moore of the Sixth Circuit. She earned a B.A. from Columbia College in 1998 and a J.D. from Columbia Law School in 2003.
Robert Pastor
Robert Pastor
Director, Center for Democracy and Election Management at American University
For more information on this, including a draft bill for states to consider enacting, visit the Center for Democracy and Election Management's website.
Robert Pastor is the director of the Center for Democracy and Election Management at American University. He is also the vice president of International Affairs and a professor of International Relations at American University. The Center for Democracy and Election Management trains students, political leaders, journalists, and election managers from the United States and abroad.
Rosemary Rodriguez
Rosemary Rodriguez
Chair, Election Assistance Commission
The most crucial need we have throughout the nation has always been more poll workers, the backbone of American elections. This November, with voter turnout predicted to be at an all-time high, the need for poll workers is more crucial than ever. These dedicated Americans are on the frontline of our democracy, and I encourage all voters to examine their ability to volunteer to work at the polls. Our nation needs bilingual pollworkers; we need need those who are comfortable with technology; we need college and high school students who can work a very long day; we need people who are willing to learn the process; and we need experienced people who already know the process.
If every voter decided to spend one day a year to assist voters, there would be no shortage of poll workers.
To learn more about becoming a poll worker, visit the Election Assistance Commission website's Become a Poll Worker page.
Rosemary Rodriguez was nominated to the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on February 15, 2007. Rodriguez was elected chair of the EAC for 2008 after serving as vice-chair in 2007. Previously, she was the president of the Denver City Council, and the director of Boards and Commissions for the Denver Mayor's Office from 2002 to 2003.