Illinois is considering a major piece of legislation to bolster its voter turnout rate and help ensure access to the ballot for all eligible citizens. A bill filed this month by, Sen. Andy Manar (D), SB2134, would tweak Illinois’ voter registration system slightly, but in a way that could yield significant results.
Currently, when Illinoisans sign up for a driver’s license, they can opt-in and also be registered to vote. If SB2134 becomes law, the default option will change so citizens are automatically registered to vote when they get a license unless they choose to opt-out.
This may sound small, but studies have shown that shifting the default option from opt-in to opt-out can lead to huge changes in sign-up rates, even though people are free in either scenario to enroll or not.
This system of automatic voter registration became law earlier this year in Oregon, the first state to do so. Though Oregon is less than one-third the size of Illinois, officials there predict that 300,000 voters will be added to the rolls as a result of the new law.
The Chicago Sun-Times, writing an editorial in support of SB2134, noted that there are 2 million citizens in Illinois who are eligible to vote but haven’t registered. Though the state passed a law in 2014 allowing citizens to register to vote on Election Day, SB2134 would make it even more likely that a significant portion of this unregistered bloc could wind up enrolling and participating in 2016.
According to University of Florida political science professor, Michael P. McDonald, an expert in the field of voting and elections, SB2134 could boost voter turnout by 1 to 2 percent, or 100,000 new voters in a large state like Illinois. He noted that those new voters would be disproportionately low-income and younger individuals.
Other states like California and Vermont are also considering implementing automatic voter registration laws.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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