Same Day Voter Registration Debated
by Christine Stuart | September 17, 2008 9:23 AM
Posted to General News
The 2006 candidate for US senate, Ned Lamont, said his conservative friends think Election Day Registration, also known as same day voter registration, is “just a political ploy,” and an invitation for voter fraud, but for him it’s about giving people confidence and a voice in the political system.
“As an American you want everybody to have a stake in the system,” Lamont said Tuesday as he opened up Common Cause’s panel discussion on the idea at Yale University.
State Sen. Gayle Slossberg, D-Milford, said its not hard for voters to become disenfranchised. She said she hears the stories all the time about a mother of three running to the polls and when she gets there she doesn’t have the proper ID. She said if that person is turned away they usually doesn’t bother coming back.
She said same day voter registration would resolve some of that frustration.
“If you don’t have a voice, you don’t have a choice,” Slossberg said.
However, LeReine Frampton, the Democratic Registrar of Voters in Newtown, had a slightly different take.
She said registrars across the state support the ideas, but are concerned about how election day registration would work, since it’s more than possible a voter could show up at the wrong polling place in towns with multiple polling places.
“Registrars want to have some control over this,” Frampton said. She said she would like to be able to set up a central location for voters looking to vote on the same day that they register. “It’s everyone right to vote, but its everyone’s responsibility to know if they’re registered,” she said.
Regina Eaton, of DEMOS a non-partisan public policy research and advocacy organization, said the system can make mistakes. She said she knows people who have showed up at polling places, are registered, but for whatever reason their name doesn’t appear on the list. She said even though the poll worker may know the person that person may not be able to vote.
Eaton said at least 300,000 people in four states were able to vote during this year’s presidential primaries because of same day voter registration.
State Rep. James Spallone, D-Essex, said having same day voter registration would simplify the process. He said he understands change can make people nervous, but if the legislature is able to pass it this year it would be rolled out during the less chaotic municipal election year.
In order to get it passed this year, Spallone said it will be important to focus on Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell, whose predecessor former Gov. John G. Rowland vetoed the bill in 2003 even though it passed the Senate 27-9 and the House 83-63.
Comments (3)
Posted by: Jon Kantrowitz | September 17, 2008 11:55 AM
'State Sen. Gayle Slossberg, D-Milford, said its not hard for voters to become disenfranchised. She said she hears the stories all the time about a mother of three running to the polls and when she gets there she doesn't have the proper ID. She said if that person is turned away they usually doesn't bother coming back.
She said same day voter registration would resolve some of that frustration."
How in the world would EDR help someone without proper ID?
Posted by: ctwatcher | September 17, 2008 11:01 PM
Why is it that record numbers of people are managing to get themselves registered to vote this year, and we don't have same day registration? could the fact that there is a compelling candidate and critical issues at stake have caused people to rearrange their priorities?
I am not a fan of EDR, and I think when this issue is parachuted in over top of the existing issues and problems with CT's system (especially when people are unaware of those issues), it becomes a superficial rallying point that doesn't really address the situation on the ground in CT. In CT, we have town by town registration - you don't have to go to a county seat to register, you just go to town hall. So New England already has it much easier than the rest of the country. IF you work in NYC and commute, it's a little tougher to deal with -- why not have some evening and/or Saturday registration days the quarter before the election so commuters can register?
I don't think the database we have in CT should be used as a shield against progress, but to implement EDR in CT would make even more pressing the already pressing need to deal with issues arising from a dated, decrepit, problematic system,
I will not soon forget being a poll stander for a candidate a couple of years ago in an election n which robocalling was used to rile people up and get them to vote against a certain candidate (with inaccurate information, and falsely representing the call as coming from that candidate). People arrived very PO'd and were practically like zombies headed on a mission to the poll to cast their vote against this candidate.
Imagine if there was same day registration how many election surprises could be engineered by rallying up an interest group and getting them to the polls on the day of the election.
Rather than same day convenience, I am far more interested in both earlier convenience and voters having a more in-depth knowledge of the candidates and issues before "showing up on a whim to vote".
In order to buy the argument for EDR, you have to buy its frame about superbusy people who have time to vote but not register.
I don't buy it. I think if people are unmotivated to register and vote, this particular election may show that one of the issues could have been... the candidates, or even the relative level of discomfort that has finally driven people to want to use voting to change their situation.
Posted by: Aldon Hynes![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.ctnewsjunkie.com/nav-commenters.gif)
| September 18, 2008 12:52 PM
ctwatcher is right,
especially in Maine and New Hampshire which have same day voter registration. Maine has had same day voter registration since 1973. It hasn't increased fraud, only voter participation.
ctwatcher is also right to be concerned about people uninformed or misinformed about issues being riled up and coming to the polling places. Perhaps we should bring back literacy tests to protect against uninformed or misinformed voters showing up at the polls, perhaps even tests on media literacy. However, in the past, the Supreme Court has ruled against such test.
So, what is the best way to increase civic participation? Do we disenfranchise procrastinators, or do we send a message that we want more people to be involved?
As part of our encouraging involvement, do we encourage people to learn more about the issues, and become more media savvy?
That is how I would approach it and some of the reasons I support same day registration.