Same-Day Registration
More than a dozen states plus the District of Columbia now offer same-day registration (SDR), allowing qualified residents to go to the polls or an election official’s office, before or on Election Day, register to vote, and then cast a ballot, all on the same day.
In most states, voters must register well before Election Day. The deadline varies, with states requiring registration eight to 30 days before the election.
Maintaining a period between registration and voting allows election officials time to verify the qualifications and residency of the voter, thus reducing the opportunity for vote fraud. Once an unverified and unqualified voter casts a ballot and it is counted, there is no way to go back and disqualify the illegally cast ballot.
Combining registration and voting on the same day causes long lines and unnecessary chaos on a day when millions of people are voting. The congestion caused by same-day registration can overwhelm poll workers and create long lines for registered voters. Same-day registration provides unnecessary pressure on local election officials who are responsible for providing up-to-date voter registration lists to each polling place.
As Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker observes, “States across the country that have same-day registration have real problems because the vast majority of their states have poll workers who are wonderful volunteers, who work 13-hour days and who in most cases are retirees,” he said. “It’s difficult for them to handle the volume of people who come at the last minute. It’d be much better if registration was done in advance of Election Day. It’d be easier for our clerks to handle that.”
The unverified registration process favors those political candidates who can round up otherwise indifferent citizens who know little about what’s on the ballot. An informed citizenry is the bulwark of a constitutional, democratic republic.
ACRU Commentary
News
Federal Judge Upholds North Carolina Voter ID Law
RALEIGH -- A federal judge has upheld North Carolina's voter ID law in a ruling posted Monday evening. U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder issued a 485-page ruling dismissing all claims in the challenge to the state's sweeping 2013 election law overhaul. Schroeder, a George W. Bush appointee, also upheld portions of the 2013 law that reduced the number of days people could vote early, eliminated same-day registration and voting and prohibited people from casting a ballot outside their precinct. The decision comes nearly three months after a trial on the ID portion of the law. Schroeder noted that North Carolina had "become progressive nationally" by permitting absentee voting, early voting for 17 days before the Election Day, a lengthy registration period, out-of-precinct voting on Election Day and a pre-registration program for 16-year-olds. "In 2013, North Carolina retrenched," Schroeder said in his opinion. Ultimately, though, Schroeder said the state had provided "legitimate state interests" in making the changes and the challengers failed to demonstrate that the law was unconstitutional. "This ruling further affirms that requiring a photo ID in order to vote is not only common sense, it's constitutional," Gov. Pat McCrory said in a statement. "Common practices like boarding an airplane and purchasing Sudafed require photo ID, and thankfully a federal court has ensured our citizens will have the same protection for their basic right to vote." In reaching the decision released on Monday, Schroeder conducted a two-part trial that spanned more than 21 days in July and this past January. He considered the testimony of 21 expert witnesses and 112 other witnesses, and more than 25,000 pages that are part of the record.
Ruling May Be Weeks Away in North Carolina Photo Voter ID Case
A federal judge's decision appears to be at least several weeks away in litigation over North Carolina's photo ID mandate for voters, making it likely that the new requirement will begin when early in-person voting begins March 3. Trial ended Monday in multiple lawsuits over the new statute, which is supposed to be implemented for the first time during the March 15 primary. The requirement, first approved by Republican elected officials in 2013 but eased somewhat last summer, makes North Carolina one of more than 30 states with some kind of voter ID requirement now in force. But the U.S. Justice Department, state NAACP and others challenged the requirement in a state with a history of racial discrimination and racially polarized voting. Their lawsuits also challenged other provisions in the 2013 law that in part scaled back early voting and ended same-day registration during the early-vote period. Only voter ID was considered during the six-day trial. The trial judge had refused before the trial to block voter ID from taking effect on schedule. U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder asked both sides to provide additional documentations by Feb. 24. Lawyers who oppose the law pointed in their closing arguments to their expert's report presented last week in court that up to 224,800 registrants lack proper voter ID. The expert also said black voters were more than twice as likely as white voters to lack a qualifying ID and face economic and social obstacles to obtain one. A competing database expert who took the stand Monday as a final defense witness testified that the report had several weaknesses and the number of those lacking ID was inflated. There are more than 6.4 million registered voters in North Carolina.
New Hampshire Bill Would Require 30-day Residency
A bill has been passed by the New Hampshire state Senate that would require voters to reside in the state for 30 days before becoming eligible to vote. Senate Bill 179 was passed by the Republican-controlled state Senate in a party-line vote, and is currently in committee in the House. New Hampshire law currently permits same-day voter registration. The legislation would amend the way the state defines "domicile" to require that a voter reside in the Granite State for "no less than 30 consecutive days" before they become eligible to cast a ballot. Supporters argue that a residency requirement would reduce voter fraud.
Dems Push for Same-Day Voting
Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) want every state to offer same-day voter registration for federal elections. The Democratic senators have reintroduced the Same Day Registration Act, which would require states to allow voters to register on the day of an election. Ten states, plus the District of Columbia, currently allow eligible voters to do so, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In addition, the group notes that Illinois is expected to implement statewide same-day voter registration later this year. Advocates argue it can help increase voter turnout, while opponents say it increases the chances for voting fraud. Klobuchar said the legislation would help "foster" the right to vote. "The right to vote is the foundation of our democracy," she said in a statement. "We should be doing everything we can to foster this right."
Colorado Democrats Kill Voter Photo ID Bills
DENVER - Colorado lawmakers on Feb. 18 once again took up the issue of photo identification as a requirement to vote, killing two measures that would have mandated the practice. The Republican-backed measures were killed by the Democratic-controlled House State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee on party-line votes. Similar attempts in recent years at the Legislature also failed. Both bills addressed same-day voter registration, enacted by a Democratic-backed measure in 2013 that made sweeping reforms to the state's election laws, including allowing voters to register on Election Day.
The Voter Suppression Myth Takes Another Hit
Federal lawsuits against North Carolina claim that recent changes to the state's election laws will "suppress" minority votes. For example, in N.C. State Conf. of NAACP v. McCrory, plaintiffs assert that the new laws "impose a disproportionate burden on the ability of African Americans to vote" and will "raise costs for voters and deter participation." They highlight testimony by a former director of the State Board of Elections who asserted that the laws will "ultimately reduc[e] turnout in comparison to comparable elections." Turnout data for the 2014 election, posted Dec. 10 on the state's Board of Elections website, tell a different story. Black turnout and registration for the November 2014 election increased by every relevant measure compared with November 2010, the last non-presidential general election. Last July, North Carolina adopted electoral reforms that eliminated same-day registration, reduced the number of days of early voting to 10 from 17, and required ballots to be cast in a voter's home precinct. It also instituted a voter-ID requirement that will take full effect in 2016. Two sets of plaintiffs, led by the NAACP and the League of Women Voters, sued in federal court on Aug. 12, 2013. They were followed a few weeks later by the Justice Department. Attorney General Eric Holder asserted that the state's new laws would restrict "access and ease of voter participation" and "would shrink, rather than expand, access to the franchise." All three suits alleged that the reforms will inflict "burdens" on North Carolina voters--and in particular, on minority voters. These allegations were backed by reams of expert reports submitted by social scientists predicting that these burdens would depress voter registration and turnout. One expert in the Justice Department lawsuit claimed that more than 200,000 black voters, along with 700,000 white voters, would be "burdened" in an off-year election. Another expert concluded that particular provisions "will lower turnout overall" and "will have a disparate impact on African-American voters." Those predictions were not borne out. The 2014 elections were the first test of the impact of North Carolina's new laws, including a "soft rollout" of its voter-ID requirement--under which poll workers asked voters if they had ID and if not, to acknowledge the new requirement in writing. Board of Elections data showed that the percentage of age-eligible, non-Hispanic black residents who turned out to vote in North Carolina rose to 41.1% in November 2014 from 38.5% in November 2010.