Registering to vote is unnecessarily complicated. Here’s 1 simple solution:

We created this video in partnership with the @skollfoundation. Modernizing voter registration is crucial for election integrity. See how Automatic Voter Registration addresses current system flaws and improves accuracy.

This new automatic voter registration (AVR) system can enhance voting accuracy, reduce fraud, and give more people access to democracy. Here’s how it works.

If the unregistered eligible voter population in California was its own state, it would be the 25th largest state in the country. Compare this to Oregon, where 93.5% of eligible voters are registered, thanks to a new automatic voter registration program called Secure AVR.

The process is simple – when attending appointments at places like the DMV, eligible citizens are automatically registered. If uninterested, users can choose to opt out, but otherwise, registration takes no effort. This way, one of the hardest parts of voting is automatically completed, leading to a more secure system, and even more participating citizens.

Three voter rights activists – Sam Oliker-Friedland, Amanda Gonzales, and Molly Woon – share their support for Secure AVR and the benefits it has already brought to U.S. voting systems. This new process simplifies voter registration, making it easier for eligible citizens to participate in democracy, all while engaging millions of new voters and updating highly outdated processes.

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About Freethink
No politics, no gossip, no cynics. At Freethink, we believe the daily news should inspire people to build a better world. While most media is fueled by toxic politics and negativity, we focus on solutions: the smartest people, the biggest ideas, and the most ground breaking technology shaping our future.
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[rikulappi]

Why you should "registers for vote"? In Finland citizens with a permanent address get an invitation automatically. With the invitation no ID is needed! If you are homeless you need an ID to vote. But no actual preregistration.

[KeithandPamBilyeu]

Pam here…the same disenfranchised voters do not drive in HIGH numbers or get a license, DMV locations are rarely on public transportation routes.

[JojoJojo-hgql]

as a central european this is laughable...what is this...a banana republic? where i live i don't even have ti do shit to vote. i am automatically registered when i turn 18. and ppl in the usa think they live in a great country?! how ignorant.

[lngkng]

This can be solve so easy. Any one paying taxes or submit a tax refund should be able to vote. If IRS can track money on you, they can track the vote that belong to you.

[goneskis]

In Australia, it is complusory to vote once someone turns 18, you cannot opt-out and can be fined for not voting. In rare but extreme cases, you could face jail (gaol) time. Voting in a democratic country is only viable if everyone who is considered an adult, is also given that opportunity to vote and actually does. The biggest issue I see is the transition to digital voting in most countries. Decentralised Identification are needed and the use of blockchain for voting could address voter fraud. The issue is the reluctancy for people to trust in these types of technologies. Although I can't imagine standing in a line for almost a day to vote. Here you are in and out in about 15 minutes. The US voting process is way too complicated..

[justboot]

Good for you, US. I hope this catches on in more states.

[willcarroll]

So strange that this would be an issue. In Oz it’s mandatory to register to vote once you turn 18. Then everyone gets an automatic postal vote in the mail before the vote, or you can attend a pre polling location and there’s tons in every suburb and vote early 7 days a week if that suits you or vote on voting day if you want. So easy.

[noneofyourbusiness]

Can I see a copy of the last independent audit done on the Oregon, Michigan and Colorado voter roles showing how many changed address, moved out of state, deceased, non-citizens, ineligible felons, etc are on the roles.

[carlosrivera]

Why do you have to "register" to vote? In Argentina you are automatic entitled to and required to vote the moment you turn 18.

[charazord]

This is a good idea but we also need to have some sort of automated process to change the registration of voters from a moving form as well.

[MT-gvns]

The problem with voting and voter registration is that it is intentionally difficult. Less voting and fewer voters favor the few and politically powerful over the many. Especially in the US with its electoral college system and lopsided congressional representation.

[scullyfox]

Registering to vote was never hard in Oregon. I filled out a card at my local post office. I think if people can't figure out how to register, then maybe they're not qualified to vote.

[GBA]

In Brazil I was obliged to register to vote since voting here is compuIsory, I went to go to a Cartório Eleitoral (didn't take that long) to get my voting card with my name and the electoral zone and the section of the voting booth included. Ex.: I vote in zone 0123, section 456 which is a room in the school XZY.

Yet to vote we don't use this card, but rather the national ID or another ID with photo like driver's license since the electoral card dosen't have a photo, is more like a instruction paper saying where you should vote, either way you can see online or in the list of the building were you vote alongside the list of candidates and their numbers. And now we can show your digital IDs in our cellphones.

Its very well organized, the voting is electronic (hence the canditades numbers) and Brazil adopts a Open List Proportional Representation without electoral districs (which I honestly belive we should adopted). Friday the schools get a day off so it can be prepare the for the election, in the Sunday we vote from 8 A.M. to 6 P.M. by midnight we have the results in the entire country.

People despise the obligation to vote, but knowing that in developed countries there are those who complicate and even restrict people from voting is an absurd.

In my opininon making obligatory the voter register for everyone is preferable than having those who prevent people from exercising their rights.

[DanH-uf]

Voters must carry citizenship paperwork or id. The system must also stop people from voting more than once.

[noneofyourbusiness]

Gotta love this quote: "Since this happens at the DMV this ensures that only eligible voters are registered." So... the DMV keeps criminal and citizenship records to exclude ineligible felons and non-citizens? And how does the DMV track citizens that move out of state and have not changed their license or citizens who have lost their license?

Also, I understand that Oregon is an all-mail-in voting process, a form of voting challenged by the President Carter-led elections commission as the single most insecure method of voting available and most prone to fraud.

[devinb]

This solution doesn’t solve the issue of inspiring the will to vote. Having less people vote benefits America’s “two-party system” because it’s easier to divide than to conquer. Both parties are working together to keep a mental (and physical) divide between everyday Americans.

[noneofyourbusiness]

Having just read the Secure AVR pitch at the institute for responsive government it say that in Secure AVR states you provide " When people apply for a driver’s license or enroll in Medicaid, they provide state agencies with all of the information necessary for voter registration."  

So, in every one of these states you must provide proof of citizenship when you get a driver's license? Do people know this going into the DVM? Or is this just skipped over?  

Note that using Medicaid roles is problematic since non-citizens and ineligible felons can receive medicaid. How are the ineligible weeded out of the system?

Note that re: DMV, you can get a California Driver's License without getting one with "Real ID", which means that you don't have to prove your citizenship.

[noneofyourbusiness]

So, Michigan is pre-registering16-year olds to vote. Is their driver's license and/or registration marked as ineligible to vote and swapped out when they are 18?

[mitas]

Funny how republican states have opted out of Secure AVR or is not willing to implement

[waynesworldofsci-tech]

In Canada you register same day in five minutes.