Monday, October 12, 2015
California Becomes 2nd State To Automatically Register Voters
California Governor Jerry Brown recently signed legislation that automatically registers voters when they renew driver's licenses or state identification cards. Lawmakers hope to increase California's voter turnout, which was a low 42 percent in the 2014 midterm elections. According to Brown's office, 6.6 million Californians (of 39 million) are eligible to vote but are not registered. Oregon was the first state to pass such a law. Is this a good way to increase voter turnout? Should Pennsylvania adopt a similar policy?
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I do believe this is needed to increase voter turnout which is increasingly becoming lower in America today. Pennsylvania should adopt the same or similar policy because the more voting the better the representation of the majority's opinion would be accounted for.
ReplyDeleteLike Emily Rusch said in this article, the United States' government depends on high voter participation in order to function properly. And if eligible citizens are automatically registered, it will be more convenient for them to vote, and then they will be more likely to vote. Pennsylvania should adopt a similar policy to improve its own voter turnout.
ReplyDeleteI believe that a large proportion of the people who do not vote in America are those who simply don't deem it worth the effort to register. They see voter registration as a chore and with so many things to do for the average young adult, it often gets pushed to the side. If voters are registered automatically, voter turnout is likely to increase because not as much effort and time is taken from the individual in order to cast their vote, and that's what most people care about these days.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is a good way to increase voter turnout, but I think that education and other programs to advocate voting are more important, because citizens that have educated opinions would be more likely to take the time to register themselves and vote. I think that Pennsylvania should adopt a similar policy because in this day and age the technology should be utilized, but we should also create more programs to promote voting.
ReplyDeleteI believe this a good way to increase voter participation. As stated before, registering to vote is a hassle to many people. People find it hard to make time to go and register and automatically registering eligible votes would get rid of this extra step to vote. I think Pennsylvania should adopt a similar policy.
ReplyDeleteI believe this is a bad idea...many of the people who choose to not vote or who are too lazy to vote are the ones who simply to do not care, or are not educated enough on the elections to know who to vote for. The number of voters that come out without forced registration are the ones who are putting in the effort to give a vote, and who should be represented.
ReplyDeletePennsylvania should adopt a similar policy, but more so if there were ways to better educate our public on the candidates and registering (I agree with Ryan^)
ReplyDeleteI believe this law is a good idea, as it could result in increased interest in politics, and therefore, increased voter turnout. Americans in minority groups face extreme voter registration laws that may intimidate them so much that they figure it isn't worth the struggle to register to vote than it is to abstain. Bypassing voter registration laws could encourage more people the take interest in political issues. Therefore, Pennsylvania should adopt this law, as only 58.06 percent of eligible voters in PA voted in the 2012 presidential election, and eliminating voter registration laws could boost that number.
ReplyDeleteI think in theory this would be a good way to increase voter turnout, as it makes the process more convenient for voters. However, I am skeptical of how effective it will be, because I don't think this would do anything to make people more interested to participate in politics.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I agree that not all people are really educated enough in politics. While I think it is more important that we have voters with educated opinions in politics than it is to have a greater number of voters, I'm not sure there would be a good way to educate the public on issues in which they would have a say. On the one hand, I think it's voters' responsibilities to educate themselves before they vote; on the other hand, I think if there are no programs to educate voters and if voters are expected to educate themselves, voter participation would stay low or even decrease further. It's a tough problem to address!
But overall, I don't think it would do any damage if Pennsylvania adopted such a policy. I think it can really only increase voting participation.
I remember when Oregon first passed legislature for this, I was very happy, and I'm equally as so now. Opposition to automatic voter registration have only stated that it statistics prove that is not the case. I'm glad that California is making it easier to vote and I hope that states like Alabama, who is making it much harder, will learn from these states examples. I also would love to see Pennsylvania adopt this.
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ReplyDeleteI think this is an excellent idea. I agree with the article that there is a need for more political education. Voting is one of the many "real life" things that many people my age just don't know how to do. By throwing out the old registration process, they will almost definitely see increased voter participation, especially with the younger voters. But that still doesn't solve the problem of lack of political and governmental awareness. I think this is an excellent policy for Pennsylvania to adopt, but I think automatic registration should go hand in hand with a greater push to educate people about government and politics.
ReplyDeleteAn excellent idea, should be the norm nationally in my opinion.
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