The Independent View: OR Automatic Voter Registration a Success

A new strategy to register voters got a first test last month, and the early results suggest it was a success.

Under a first-in-the-nation law that went into effect at the start of the year, Oregon Automatically Registered more than 225,000 residents based on interactions with the State’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), such as obtaining or renewing a driver’s license. Of those, nearly 100,000 voted last month, a turnout rate of 43%, more than half the 80% rate among all registered voters in the state.

“For Oregon to get that just among the people who are automatically registered is quite a feat,” said Barry Burden, a Professor of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Director of that school’s Elections Research Center.

The law represents one of a handful of recent attempts by States to expand voting access even as many others sought to limit it, often by imposing strict requirements intended to protect against voter fraud, which most experts agree is not a widespread concern.

The Oregon law, the first “Automatic Voter Registration” policy to be tested in an election, is notable for a subtle innovation: It is opt-out, not opt-in. Rather than ask eligible residents to take an action like checking a box to register to vote, residents are automatically registered when they apply for, renew or replace a drivers’ license, ID card or permit at the State Driver and Motor Vehicle Services Division.

Since Oregon passed its law in 2015, five other States have embraced the strategy, according to the bipartisan National Conference of State Legislatures. The largest is California, where an estimated 6.6 million people are eligible but not registered to vote. This year, Vermont and West Virginia passed similar measures, while Connecticut made the switch through an agreement between the Secretary of State and the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Last month, Alaskans approved a ballot measure allowing the State to automatically register voters when they sign up for the permanent fund dividend, an annual payment to residents of investment earnings from mineral royalties.

In Oregon, eligible voters receive a card in the mail notifying them of their automatic registration. To affiliate with a Political Party or opt out of voter registration, residents must return the card with the appropriate information filled out. Or they can simply do nothing.

“It’s one of the biggest things you could do to boost participation nationwide,” said Jonathan Brater, who focuses on Voting Rights and Elections at the Brennan Center for Justice, a Nonpartisan Law and Policy Institute at the New York University School of Law.

Mr. Brater was cautious about drawing far-reaching conclusions from the Oregon results, citing the need for more data over several Election cycles to fully understand the program’s impact. But he and other Voting Law Specialists say the early data released last month by Jeanne P. Atkins, Oregon’s Secretary of State, was promising. “Based on the initial data, it definitely looks like a success,” he said.

Of course, some of the residents registered through the program may have taken the initiative to do so on their own, but many had the chance and failed to act: Nearly half of the people added to the rolls were automatically registered based on DMV visits in 2014 and 2015, when the opt-in option to register was available.

Opponents of such strategies cite concerns over privacy and fraud and criticize the idea as an example of “big government” and wasteful spending. “I reject this government-knows-best, backwards approach that would inconvenience citizens and waste government resources for no justifiable reason,” Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey wrote in a message explaining his veto of Automatic Registration there last year. Gov. Bruce Rauner of Illinois vetoed a similar Automatic Registration bill in his State this year, citing concerns about fraud.

When the Oregon program was being debated, it was projected to cost the State just over $750,000 over the course of two years. The current projected cost to Oregon’s Counties was just over $765,000.

Some on the left worry that such laws will hinder a tried-and-true strategy of using Voter Registration drives as a way to connect with voters who they can learn more about and later mobilize, said Paul Gronke, Political Science Professor at Reed College and Director of the school’s Early Voting Information Center.

Proponents of Automatic Registration say the policy will free those groups up for other kinds of outreach. They also argue that such programs make Government more efficient by spreading out a spike in processing of Voter Registration forms.

“Those forms tend to come in a glut right before Election Day,” Mr. Burden said. By registering voters throughout the year, States can avoid hiring temporary workers and paying overtime for employees closer to the Election, he said.