Voting Trends: Online Registration

In 2008 only two states allowed voters to register online. By the 2012 election 13 states had online registration systems up and running. Currently, at least 14 additional states are considering legislation that would allow online registration.

Online registration helps boost registration rates among young voters. Since Arizona pioneered online registration in 2002, the registration rate for 18-24 year olds has risen from 28% to 53%. Today, over 70% of Arizona's registrations are submitted online. In 2012, five states rolled out online voter registration statewide for the first time:

• In California, during the five weeks leading up to the registration deadline, more than one million voters submitted online registration applications or updates. More than 60% of users were under the age of 35. 
• In Ohio, previously registered voters were allowed to update their registration information online and more than 100,000 individuals did so in the two months before the registration deadline--one-third in the week prior to the deadline and 13,000 alone on the day before registration closed. 
•  In Oregon, which has allowed online registration since 2010, nearly 20,000 voters registered online on the state's deadline. 

Not only is online registration convenient for voters, but it also benefits election officials. In Arizona, the costs associated with an online registration are just $0.03 compared to $0.83 for a paper registration. Online registration also reduces data entry errors and can lead to more accurate voter rolls, streamlining the Election Day experience for both voters and election officials.

How Technology is Transforming Elections

As last week's webinar showed, it's never too early to start thinking about the 2012 election. In preparing for next year, many elections officials will utilize a variety of new voting technologies.

Technology will impact voter registration, voter information, the voting experience itself, and administrative practices—like how ballots are counted and monitored.

Finally catching the online wave, elections officials and secretaries of states have flocked to Facebook and Twitter (the EAC cultivates an elections officials and office Twitter list) to better connect with voters and share important deadlines and information. Some local boards are using targeted Facebook ads to reach residents, and hoping that they'll share their enthusiasm for elections with their social network.

Online voter registration is available in a number of states (see if yours is one of them) and has made it easier for would-be voters to register and update their registration. It's also helped organizations streamline their registration efforts by reducing logistical concerns related to returning forms.

The Pew Center on the States is working with 35 states to create new voting tools, including an app to help military and overseas voters fill out their ballot and a multilingual polling place locator.

Because many election components have migrated online, many voters are dreaming of the day that they'll be able to vote online. Most will have to be patient—security and hacking concerns have impeded any substantial progress toward making online voting safe and secure. However, some municipalities have toyed with the idea, and Washington is set to permit its roughly 52,000 voters abroad to do so in 2012.

How has technology impacted your registration or voting experience?

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