States Are Improving Elections in 2013

This year has seen a number of new laws that will improve ballot access and streamline the election process for both voters and elections officials.

Colorado recently passed the Voter Access and Modernized Elections Act that includes provisions for Election Day Registration and portable registration, in addition to creating a bipartisan task force to study voting changes and consider future reforms.

Last month, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed HB 7013 into law which will take effect January 1, 2014. The new law increases the number of early voting days and hours allowed, expands the types of sites that can be used as early voting locations, allows new residents to change their addresses at the polls, and gives absentee voters who forgot to sign their ballot the opportunity to correct the mistake.

In addition to expanding early voting, Maryland will allow same-day registration during the early voting period beginning in 2016. Both Virginia and West Virginia have passed online voter registration, bringing the number of states that have passed or implemented online registration to nineteen.

Election Day Registration is Popular in Wisconsin

In Wisconsin, one in eight ballots--almost a million votes in all--came from voters who registered on Election Day just before voting in three recent statewide elections--November 2008, November 2010, and the June 2012 gubernatorial recall.

The popularity of the law in Wisconsin has remained relatively steady in general elections since 1984, ranging from a rate of 6.5% of all voters in 2002 to nearly 20% in 2006, when 1,500 small towns were required for the first time to register voters.

Election Day Registration allows voters to correct or update information before casting a ballot, provides a remedy for voters who find themselves omitted from the rolls, and accommodates those who decide to participate at the last minute. States that employ some form of same-day registration tend to have higher turnout rates than those without it.

Nevertheless, there have been several unsuccessful attempts to repeal Election Day Registration in Wisconsin by those who claim that it burdens election clerks and increases the risk of voter fraud. However, many clerks support the law and investigations have found no significant fraud problems. One city clerk said she sets up a separate area for registration so it doesn't slow others who are ready to vote and noted that "We've learned how to work with the current laws and we've got a pretty streamlined process."

The Benefits of Election Day Registration

With Connecticut joining the ranks of Election Day (or Same Day) Registration states, let's review how expanded registration opportunities make it possible for more people to participate. In 2010 Same Day Registration allowed almost 640,000 Americans to register and vote in the November 2, 2010 election. Moreover, states that allow for Same Day Registration consistently lead the nation in voter turnout.

A Demos factsheet highlights stats from the 2010 midterm elections and notes that average turnout in the nine states (and D.C.) with Same Day Registration was nearly 6 percentage points higher than in states without it.

2010 was the first time the District of Columbia used Same Day Registration after enacting it in 2009, while in Idaho Election Day registrants accounted for nearly 10% of ballots cast.

More than 23,000 New Hampshire residents registered and voted on Election Day in 2010, while almost 9,000 Wyoming residents used Same Day Registration to participate.

Maine and Minnesota both employ Election Day Registration and led the nation in voter turnout in the 2010 midterm with rates 15 percentage points higher than the national average. Turnout in Wisconsin and Iowa, who both have Same Day Registration, was 10 percentage points higher than the national average.

Nearly 10,000 Montana citizens registered and voted during the state's "late registration" period, which runs from the close of the regular registration period up to and including Election Day. In North Carolina turnout in the 2010 midterm was 8 percentage points higher than in the 2006 midterm. Nearly 40,000 voters used Same Day Registration to update their voter registration records and vote, along with an additional 21,000 new registrants.

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