In Oregon, A Bold Move To Expand Voter Base

Posted by | March 17, 2015 05:00 | Filed under: Politics Top Stories

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Oregon has become the first state to automatically register anyone who gets a driver’s license or state ID to vote:

Seventeen years after Oregon decided to become the first state to hold all elections with mail-in ballots, it took another pioneering step on Monday to broaden participation by automatically registering people to vote.

Gov. Kate Brown signed a bill that puts the burden of registration on the state instead of voters.

Under the legislation, every adult citizen in Oregon who has interacted with the Driver and Motor Vehicle Services Division since 2013 but hasn’t registered to vote will receive a ballot in the mail at least 20 days before the next statewide election. The measure is expected to add about 300,000 new voters to the rolls.

“It just changes expectations for who’s responsible for making elections work,” said Barry Burden, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and director of the Elections Research Center. “In every other state it’s the responsibility for the voters to make sure it happens.”

Some other states have considered such legislation but none has gone as far as Oregon.

Minnesota nearly implemented automatic voter registration in 2009 before the plan was vetoed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who said “registering to vote should be a voluntary, intentional act.”

Don’t expect ALEC to be writing model legislation along those lines. In other words, it’s a law worth supporting in my not-so-humble opinion.

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Copyright 2015 Liberaland
By: dave-dr-gonzo

David Hirsch, a.k.a. Dave "Doctor" Gonzo*, is a renegade record producer, video producer, writer, reformed corporate shill, and still-registered lobbyist for non-one-percenter performing artists and musicians. He lives in a heavily fortified compound in one of Manhattan's less trendy neighborhoods.

* Hirsch is the third person to use the pseudonym, a not-so-veiled tribute to journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson, with the permission of his predecessors Gene Gaudette of American Politics Journal (currently webmaster and chief bottlewasher at Liberaland) and Stephen Meese at Smashmouth Politics.

11 responses to In Oregon, A Bold Move To Expand Voter Base

  1. jybarz March 17th, 2015 at 06:01

    Don’t expect any cheering on this from GOP Gov States. It goes against GOP’s voter suppression programs. The smaller the number of voters turnout on election days, the better the GOP’s chances of winning. GOP bastards thrive on killing true democracy and deceits.

    • rg9rts March 17th, 2015 at 08:49

      Now they are changing the electoral college

    • tracey marie March 17th, 2015 at 17:13

      The gop came right out and admitted, the less voters the more repubs get into office

  2. Warman1138 March 17th, 2015 at 08:29

    Wow, this is the best thing ever.

  3. rg9rts March 17th, 2015 at 08:48

    They are off the gopee xmas card list for sure

    • dave-dr-gonzo March 17th, 2015 at 09:50

      Republifederates are gonna haz a sad…

  4. Pilotshark March 17th, 2015 at 08:50

    Outstanding Oregon!!!!

    well Oregon when from one of the worst voting states to being with in the top 5, think it was 68.7% and that was down 1.5% for an off year elections.

    this is how voting should be, by mail (go USPS) and easy voter registration.

  5. John Tarter March 17th, 2015 at 09:44

    So much for keeping illegals from voting since Oregon issues drivers licenses to illegals. This is one big step backward for keeping the voting process fair for actual American citizens.

    • dave-dr-gonzo March 17th, 2015 at 09:50

      “So illegals are now allowed to vote since Oregon issues drivers licenses to illegals.”

      No. If you read the full article (you may or may not be aware of the concept of following a link to a full article – you really should try it sometime!), you would see that non-citizens cannot get the right to vote using this system.

      And you asked a question; it should have concluded with a question mark, not a period. Did you fail middle school English?

      I will say this for you: you spit out those hate radio talking points quite consistently, almost like a parrot with Tourette’s. Classy!

    • OldLefty March 17th, 2015 at 11:58

      Oregon only grants driver’s licenses to people who can prove they’re in the U.S. legally by presenting passports, birth certificates or other documents.

      David House, a spokesman for the Driver and Motor Vehicle Services Division, has said the agency can separate citizens from noncitizens based on those documents.

    • tracey marie March 17th, 2015 at 17:12

      lol, because you need to lie and whine.

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