Many democracies around the world automatically register all eligible citizens to vote. Unfortunately, the United States is not one of those democracies. There is only one state (North Dakota) that automatically registers their citizens, who only need a valid I.D. on election day to cast a ballot. Forty-nine other states force adults to go through the extraneous process of registering themselves, varying with levels of accessibility. It is a process that disables many Americans without access from voting, especially because of the debacle involving the Department of Motor Vehicles. In her book “American Government in Black and White” (2014) Paula D. McClain stated, “The United States is among the premier democracies in the world, yet the United States has voter turnout rates lower than those of many countries.” Eligible citizens should not have to personally register to vote because:
1: Many Americans do not have stable housing, if at all.
Homeless citizens are allowed to register to vote by describing the location in which they sleep. This may seem inclusive, but that is more theoretically true than realistically. Many homeless citizens do not sleep in the same place from night to night, and describing the streets they must forge shelter near is quite humiliating, and in turn discourages the homeless population from voting, even when propositions regarding their well-being is on the ballot. Also, many homeless citizens do not have an accurate perception of time, and the majority of states (all besides Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming) have registration deadlines weeks before the actual Election Day.
Also, registration must be updated every time someone changes their address to update their polling places. Annually, around 14% of the U.S. population will move making their registration automatically invalid. For anyone who has moved, there is an understanding of the incredible amounts of work and stress that goes into moving from attaining the new home to forwarding mail to transporting a great amount of belongings to figuring out the resources in the area (i.e. grocery stores, schools, etc.). It can be very difficult to successfully handle all of the challenges moving takes as well as having to re-register under a new address before the next election cycle.
Having the government systematically register citizens would relieve the difficulties for eligible citizens without permanent homes.
2: It will engage more citizens.
Many people, especially new adults, believe that neither presidential candidates will benefit them, so they do not go through the process of registering to vote. The ballot this November will not only have a presidential election section, but also congressional elections and numerous sections for voting for propositions and measures that will either directly or indirectly affect every single citizen. Some examples are: marijuana legalization, gun control, minimum wage, and California’s radical statewide plastic bag outlaw. Being able to simply walk into a polling place with one’s I.D. would significantly increase voter turnout and institute laws that accurately reflect the views of each state.
Also, in the highly publicized scandal of alleged, but later disproved, fraud against Bernie Sanders in his 2016 presidential campaign by the DNC proved just how little people know about voter registration and how they might have registered incorrectly or didn’t recently enough update their registration. Eradicating the need to go through the process of registering and re-registering every time one changes addresses, parties, last names, etc., when that information could be updated when receiving a driver’s license or I.D., would end the political dissent arising from such confusions.
3: Until 1850, personally registering to vote in the U.S. did not exist.
Before the 1850s, government agencies were responsible for keeping track of eligible voters, and even afterwards mainly only people who lived in large cities had to register themselves. Though there is no substantial evidence linking the two, it is very curious that this was around the time when policies pushing for African Americans to vote began to arise (with the 15th Amendment being ratified in 1870). Through Jim Crow laws, many black Americans were still disenfranchised and it took until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to make voting more accessible for African Americans.
Having to personally register to vote, on some level, disenfranchises people of many communities, such as the poor, those who live in rural communities who do not have close access to post offices or computers to register themselves, and people of color who’s parents never registered to vote giving them a lack of education on how to do so. Literacy tests are seen as heinous and ridiculous now, and maybe in 100 years, registering to flex your constitutional right will seem similarly ridiculous.
United States citizens over the age of 18 should have absolutely zero barriers between their personal situations and their rights. However, until universal registration is in place, here is a link to register to vote. Happy National Voter Registration Day.
