ALMOST exactly a year from today, on November 4, 2008, millions of Virginians will travel to their local polling places to vote. Tragically, thousands of these legal residents will be prevented from voting. They won't be rejected because they're younger than 18, felons, illegal immigrants or considered mentally incompetent by the state. No, these citizens will be prevented from voting because they failed to register as voters. Many of these aspiring voters will likely be college students and first-time participants. Current voter registration laws must be revised to allow all aspiring voters to participate.
Virginia currently requires prospective voters to file registration applications with the State Board of Elections before Election Day. Commonwealth law stipulates that citizens must register at least twenty-nine days prior to a general or primary election. Despite the efforts of voter participation groups like the League of Women Voters, campus political organizations and the media, many potential voters neglect to sign up. They often realize their mistake during the politically-charged time directly leading up to Election Day.
While Virginia continues to require voters to register nearly a month before elections, other progressive states have introduced Election Day Registration laws that allow citizens to arrive at polling places on Election Day, register on-the-spot and vote immediately. Currently, seven states allow EDR. North Dakota does not require registration at all. North Carolina recently passed a measure that moves registration deadlines to a few days before elections.
Due to their EDR laws, these states have higher voter turnout rates than the national average. According to Demos, a non-partisan research and advocacy group, "EDR significantly increases the opportunity for all citizens to cast a vote and participate in American democracy: in the 2004 presidential election, EDR states boasted an average turnout 12 percent higher than that of non-EDR states."
According to Virginia's government, one way to assess vote turnout is to "measure the number of ballots counted as a percent of the estimated citizen voting age population (CVAP)." In 2004, 77.6 percent of CVAP were actively registered, according to the state government. However, only 59.8 percent of CVAP cast ballots in 2004. By comparison, Minnesota, a state with EDR, boasted the nation's highest turnout with 76.1 percent of voters participating.
Under current electoral law, Virginia is preventing motivated prospective voters from casting ballots. The Commonwealth's archaic registration requirements impede representative government and citizen participation. In a nation, and state, increasingly disengaged and disillusioned with politics, it makes little sense that voters should be prevented from voicing their opinions and exercising their Constitutional rights.
The 2008 elections promise to be extremely competitive, with a very visible presidential contest, House of Representatives seats up across the state, a Senate race for the successor to John Warner, and Virginia General Assembly elections. Virginians in 2008 are more likely than ever to go to the polls. EDR should be implemented in time to allow all voters to participate.
While not a panacea, EDR does address some of the fundamental problems plaguing America's voting practices. Yet many observers persist in faulting EDR. They denounce it as a system that must encourage and enable voting fraud. Surprisingly, research shows that EDR is no less secure than current voting methods. In a nation where dead people have been known to populate voting rolls, it is ludicrous to fault EDR because it may allow a few ineligible voters to participate.
As with the current voting system, citizens would be required to present valid identification and proof of residency when registering on Election Day. Additionally, a statewide database with the essential information of each recently-registered voter would be deployed to polling places. Through frequent updates, this system would provide election officials with reliable and timely data to prevent voting irregularities.
Possibly the greatest advantage of EDR is its ability to empower a new generation of voters. Political participation among the 18-24 demographic is unacceptably low. An EDR program could change this. The Demos think tank estimates that "EDR could increase youth turnout in presidential elections by as much as 14 percent." By accommodating young, motivated voters, EDR would increase future turnout rates too, as young voters would be more likely to vote again after initially registering.
Throughout the twentieth century, Virginia distinguished itself as a progressive, well-governed Commonwealth. This tradition must be preserved and strengthened in the twenty-first century. By instituting EDR for the 2008 elections, new and previously disengaged voters will become active in the political process. Election Day Registration is the type of common sense, non-partisan measure the Commonwealth should fully embrace.
James Rogers's column appears Fridays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at jrogers@cavalierdaily.com.
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