There have been past efforts to increase voter participation. In my first election as an adult, my generation launched “Rock the Vote,” aimed at getting the participation of youth. Later there was the Motor Voter Law that allowed people to register as they renewed their driver’s license.
Now, Secretary of State Debra Bowen, Senator Leland Yee and San Mateo County Chief Elections Officer Mark Church and the other 57 county elections officials have launched an effort that could be equally revolutionary, as it allows people to register to vote online.
“Though most states still cannot offer online voter registration, I am thrilled to say the largest state in the nation is ready to roll. Today the Internet replaces the mailbox for thousands of Californians wanting to register to vote,” said Secretary of State Debra Bowen, California’s chief elections officer. “Online or on paper, California’s laws and procedures for processing voter registration applications are identical. Security is a critical part of elections, and I want to emphasize this online application is not ‘automatic registration.’ The information provided in an online application still must be verified by a county elections official before an applicant can be added to the voter rolls.”
The law, co-written by Senator Yee, will allow California to increase their voter participation at the same time other states have sought to suppress their voting rights.
“This is an incredibly exciting day for California and for our democracy,” said Senator Yee, co-authoring the law to allow online registration. “While some states are suppressing the rights of voters, here in California we are proudly increasing participation.”
“Senator Yee’s law will not only increase voter registration, it will increase the accuracy of the registration information, and reduce election costs,” said Mark Church, San Mateo County’s Chief Elections Officer. “Everyone wins.”
“With the launch of online voter registration, California voters can register with ease and use 21st century technology to get involved in our democracy,” said Kathay Feng, Executive Director for California Common Cause.
“Online voter registration improves democracy by improving access, increasing accuracy, and cutting costs,” said Dean C. Logan, Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk.
“We want to thank Senator Leland Yee for authoring the legislation to establish online voter registration, and Secretary of State Debra Bowen for working to quickly implement online voter registration this fall,” said Daniela Uribe, CALPIRG New Voters’ Project. “Our democracy depends on an engaged citizenry. Online voter registration is a no-brainer – it will make it easier for Californians to participate in our elections, while saving our election officials time and money.”
“We are overjoyed with the opportunity that Online Voter Registration presents to students,” said Raymond Parenti-Kurttila, Vice President of External Affairs for San Francisco State University Associated Students. “This is an exciting development that takes civic engagement into the 21st century.”
“Today the internet replaces the mailbox for thousands of Californians wanting to register to vote,” said Debra Bowen. “Online or on paper, California’s laws and procedures for processing voter registration applications are identical. The information provided in an online application still must be verified by a county elections official before an applicant can be added to the voter rolls.”
The new online voter registration system will allow citizens whose signature is already on file with the Department of Motor Vehicles to submit their voter registration form to their county elections office electronically via the internet or a mobile device by visiting RegisterToVote.ca.gov.
Paper applications are available at many government offices, DMV offices, post offices, public libraries, and more. The last day to register to vote for the November 6 General Election is October 22.
According to a release from the Secretary of State’s office, Secretary Bowen earlier this year secured $1.8 million in federal funding for this phase of the voter registration application project, which included Help America Vote Act dollars and a grant from the Federal Voting Assistance Program.
“County elections offices will benefit in cost savings thanks to the reduced staff time devoted to data entry,” the release said.
In 2009, Secretary Bowen launched an online fillable application that could be printed, taking the project as far as she could without the significant funding and coordination required between many other government agencies to make online submittal possible.
Since then, the online offering has enabled more than 550,000 Californians to fill out the voter registration application and then print, sign and mail it.
The data is provided electronically to county elections officials, who maintain voter records. Beginning Wednesday, people can electronically send the entire voter registration application via a secure infrastructure developed by Secretary of State and DMV staff.
Given my recent move, my wife and I had to re-register. We did so yesterday online. There are some protections – you have to put in your Driver’s License number, the last four of your social security number and date of birth. I did not check to see what would happen if you entered that you did not have a Driver’s License or California ID card.
According to the Secretary of State’s release: “To register to vote, a Californian must complete a brief voter registration application on paper or online. When a person registers online, the system will search the DMV database for the applicant’s California driver license or identification card number, date of birth, and last four digits of the applicant’s social security number.”
They add: “If the information is found and the applicant authorizes elections officials’ use of the DMV signature, an electronic image of the DMV signature will be added to that voter registration application. If there is no signature on file with DMV, all of the applicant’s information will still be transmitted to the county elections office; the applicant will just need to click ‘print,’ then sign the paper application and mail it. (California law requires that the applicant sign the voter registration application, which is considered a legal affidavit.) As always, the county elections official will contact the applicant when the voter registration application is approved or when more information is needed to confirm eligibility.”
The release continues: “County elections offices maintain voter records and can confirm the status of a person’s voter registration. An all-county portal is at www.sos.ca.gov/elections/registration-status.”
The release stipulates: “Residents of California are eligible to vote if they are United States citizens; at least 18 years old by Election Day; not in prison or county jail (serving a state prison sentence or a term of more than one year in jail for a defined ‘low-level’ felony) or on parole, post-release community supervision or post-sentencing probation for a felony conviction; and not judged by a court to be mentally incompetent. A person must re-register to vote after moving, changing names or changing political party preference.”
—David M. Greenwald reporting
“While some states are suppressing the rights of voters, here in California we are proudly increasing participation.”
“There are some protections – you have to put in your Driver’s License number, Last four of your social security number and date of birth. I did not check to see what would happen if you entered that you did not have a Driver’s License or California ID card.”
LOL
Perfect! Just in time to register all those needy students lacking experience paying taxes to help the libdem looters pass their union-rewarding Prop-30.
This move by California libdems dovetails nicely with the move by the big kahuna libdem in the White House… the Dream Act!
The moves of national libdems, state libdems and the liberal media are all astoundingly coordinated. Front-line for the 49ers take note!
But back to this online registration thing…
Hear that sound?
It is the sound of moving trucks hauling away the assets of businesses and wealthy adults moving to other states.
What will those centeral control looters do then to maintain their cash flow?
Here is an idea, build the border fence on the US side of California to prevent them from leaving.
I’ll have to tell my neighbor, Debra Bowen that you approve Rusty. I know something is the right thing when you and Jeff are squawking about it.
Senator Yee’s office is reporting over 10,000 people registered to vote online yesterday. It’s cool being one of them.
Siegel, the alter ego, my secret admirer
Even you have to see the irony in claiming that other staes are suppressing voter rights by asking for ID when this new legislation is asking for precisely the same thing.
I think the objection to the other states is requiring ID at the polls. And as I noted, this doesn’t require ID, there is an option to proceed without the ID.
In fact, if you read the article the only reason that an ID is needed is to transfer the signature. If they have no signature on file, they need to sign the voter registration form at their county registrar’s office.
Ideally, we should be moving toward online voting, not just online registration.
I know there are some reasonable concerns about this. But I have faith they can be worked out.
What I think would be a good interim step would be to have a single US House district (which is heavily tilted in favor of one of the major parties) to serve as a test case for online voting for some 4, 6 or 8 years. During that period, we could see what problems may come from hackers or ineligible voters or other situations, and then as they come up, respond and try to improve the system to where it can be used in all districts.
I am not suggesting that, if we ever have online voting, everyone has to choose this method. But I think, given the way the world works today, it makes sense to use our best technology to make voting efficient and convenient, as long as that did not also mean corrupt.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Election_Day_voter_registration
Suggest that anyone who is serious about registration issues, as opposed to the right or left wing “wing-nuts”, who have other axes to grind, check out the following :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Election_Day_voter_registration
I offer no opinion at this time, only what appears to be pertinent info. A lot of zealots on the registration issues, who put their hands over their ears and go “Na Na Na Na, I can’t hear you”, and most are on the fairly far left, or fairly far right. Personally, I give little or no support for either.
Rifs
I think that running a small pilot is a really good idea. Perhaps having some real data would be reassuring to all who are not on the political extremes. I do think that to minimize the naysaying, you might have to use 3 districts, one each heavily tilted in favor of each party, and one balanced. But the concept is simple, elegant, reproducible and probably not prohibitively expensive.
Jeff
[quote]Perfect! Just in time to register all those needy students lacking experience paying taxes to help the libdem looters pass their union-rewarding Prop-30.
[/quote]
So, just for clarification, are you suggesting that if you have not yet earned enough to pay income taxes, you should be ineligible to vote ? I wonder if that should apply to my 23 year old graduate of Berkeley who just started working as a teaching assistant at Cal last month or my 20 year old attending community college.
Oh…wait….since they are [u]my[/u] kids….you probably do think that should apply to them !!!! But let’s pretend for the moment that I had given the example of two young people attending Oral Roberts University ; )
Jeff,
But on a more serious note, your comment does lend support to those of us who tend to believe that the attempts to limit voting ( from my point of view) or “to prevent voter fraud” ( probably from your point of view) are strictly partisan based and have little to do with concern over fraud. I do not believe that I have read a more honest rationale for wanting to limit who votes on the basis of policy preference than what you just wrote. If I am wrong, please clarify.
medwoman: I think that is the driving motivation (accumulate more reliable Democrat votes) for much, if not most, of what the Democrat politicians do in respect to immigration and voter rights. So, I think it is a reasonable argument to be made as a conservative to push back for this reason. You can create a tyanny of the majority by increasing the numbers of the majority. You can also do it by continually doing things to screw up the economy, and redistributing more free stuff.
Democrat political strategy from the Hugo Chavez playbook…
Step 1 – Create a large population of needy.
Step 2 – Get them addicted to entitlements and free stuff.
Step 3 – Enflame their anger over successful people.
Step 4 – Use the anger to capture votes that keep you in power.
Step 5 – Increase taxes to fund the greater give-aways.
Step 6 – Go back to step 1.
Do this until you run out of other people’s money and society crashes and crumbles around you like so many other attempts to govern with a liberal collectivist mindset.
But, having written this… I do not really have too much of a problem with online registration. What I have a problem with is the lack of voter identification which would prevent voter fraud. With adequate voter ID, I would celebrate online registration and online voting. I’m an IT guy… so of course I support going tech!
Why do the Libs and Dems block voter ID?
[quote]Why do the Libs and Dems block voter ID?[/quote]
I cannot speak for anyone but myself. I have no problem whatsoever with voter ID if it is truly certain identification that is desired.
For example, take my mom who had no picture ID or any need for one for many years. If she had been allowed to vote by the poll workers who knew her on a first name basis ( we lived in a rural community of 2000) and thus could be 100% certain of her identity, I would have no problem. I just think that to require an government issued picture ID when it has not been necessary previously is unnecessarily onerous for a large number of people who are poor, elderly, frail, transportation less….etc. And by the way, my mom was a Republican who virtually always voted the party line, so I cannot be accused of only favoring the Democrats in this matter.
I still think that you are linking something that I see as a major and unnecessary inconvenience to many with
your idea of how a “liberal” thinks. Unfortunately, I see you as frequently incorrect in your broad generalization.
And, as a liberal, who frequently does not adhere to your stereotype, I ought to know.
Medwoman, if you lack transportation to get an ID, then how can you get to the polls to vote? You argument does not make sense to me.
Again, I don’t care if the voter is left or right. My point is that we should eliminate the risks of fraud to increase the trust in the voting process. If a single vote is erased by fraud that will be all of our votes, because all of our votes are a single vote.
Your Party and/or ideology seems very quick to demand we go through more hassle to register our cars, and run a business, and… just about anything else as long as it supports your political agenda or worldview. Talk about onerous… what about the smog check requirement? Do you know the level of hardship that has caused low income people and students needing a car?
I admit that I do not know how a liberal thinks just like I don’t know how a woman thinks. I will keep trying to understand both. My guess is that I will be continually perplexed… and will perpetually enjoy the challenge in a masochistic sort of way.
My sense is that women and liberals know they cannot be figured out and like it that way! 😉
Jeff
[quote]Medwoman, if you lack transportation to get an ID, then how can you get to the polls to vote? You argument does not make sense to me. [/quote]
Since we women are so difficult to understand, I will try to keep it simple ; )
Just one illustration. My polling place for 20 years was two blocks away from my house. The nearest DMV, over 5 miles away. Not a problem at my age. Prohibitive for a number of folks I have known.
[quote]I admit that I do not know how a liberal thinks just like I don’t know how a woman thinks. I will keep trying to understand both.[/quote]
Can I quote this every time you make a sweeping comment about the motivations of “liberals” ?