Voter Registration Enters the 21st Century
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| Also listed in: Courage Campaign Staff |
Thanks be to God, internet technology allows us to renew our vehicle registrations and even file our tax returns online. Now, California is one step closer to allowing voter registration online with the help of the DMV. State bureaucracy has officially entered the 21st century.
Currently, eligible voters can obtain and fill out the registration forms online. But, they must print it out, sign it and mail it to the appropriate government official. Online registration will allow you to save a stamp and a trip to the mailbox for eligible voters who have either a California's Drivers License or Identification Card.
But what about voter integrity? Well, if you remember when you first got your drivers license, you had to provide DMV with a birth certificate or some other form of identification at the time of application. Once you passed the written and driving exams, you were required to provide a thumbprint and signed an affidavit which was then digitized and is actually printed on your license or I.D.
That's voter security.
Courage Campaign favorite, Secretary of State Deborah Bowen is in full support of online registration. And for good reason, the San Francisco Chronicle points out the registration increases and use of internet by the public since the state's of Washington and Arizona allowed online registration.
The programs in Arizona and Washington have had few, if any, problems. Arizona's EZ Vote system has been in use since 2002 and more than 70 percent of voter registrations are now done on the Internet.
Washington's Legislature approved online registration last year and the system went live in January. Already, 40 percent of new registrations are done online, said Katie Blinn, assistant director of elections in the Washington secretary of state's office.
"It's really been very popular here," she said. "Both voters and local election administrators like it because it's so much faster."
Despite clear success in other parts of the country, the state's Republican politicians appear to oppose improving voter access.
The bill authored by Pharmaceutical Industry Democrat, Sen. Ron Calderon passed unanimously in the Assembly's election committee, with the support of two Republican members, while the Assembly appropriations committee approved it on an 11-4 vote along party lines.
"My main concern is that voting security is not tight enough as it is and allowing online registration won't help," said Assemblyman Doug La Malfa, R-Biggs (Butte County), who voted against the bill in committee.
Redistricting or not, the California GOP is going to be a minority party for as long as they hold political positions which make no sense at all. Its comforting to know that they constantly look for ways to make the jobs of democratic activists a little easier.
Currently, eligible voters can obtain and fill out the registration forms online. But, they must print it out, sign it and mail it to the appropriate government official. Online registration will allow you to save a stamp and a trip to the mailbox for eligible voters who have either a California's Drivers License or Identification Card.
But what about voter integrity? Well, if you remember when you first got your drivers license, you had to provide DMV with a birth certificate or some other form of identification at the time of application. Once you passed the written and driving exams, you were required to provide a thumbprint and signed an affidavit which was then digitized and is actually printed on your license or I.D.
That's voter security.
Courage Campaign favorite, Secretary of State Deborah Bowen is in full support of online registration. And for good reason, the San Francisco Chronicle points out the registration increases and use of internet by the public since the state's of Washington and Arizona allowed online registration.
The programs in Arizona and Washington have had few, if any, problems. Arizona's EZ Vote system has been in use since 2002 and more than 70 percent of voter registrations are now done on the Internet.
Washington's Legislature approved online registration last year and the system went live in January. Already, 40 percent of new registrations are done online, said Katie Blinn, assistant director of elections in the Washington secretary of state's office.
"It's really been very popular here," she said. "Both voters and local election administrators like it because it's so much faster."
Despite clear success in other parts of the country, the state's Republican politicians appear to oppose improving voter access.
The bill authored by Pharmaceutical Industry Democrat, Sen. Ron Calderon passed unanimously in the Assembly's election committee, with the support of two Republican members, while the Assembly appropriations committee approved it on an 11-4 vote along party lines.
"My main concern is that voting security is not tight enough as it is and allowing online registration won't help," said Assemblyman Doug La Malfa, R-Biggs (Butte County), who voted against the bill in committee.
Redistricting or not, the California GOP is going to be a minority party for as long as they hold political positions which make no sense at all. Its comforting to know that they constantly look for ways to make the jobs of democratic activists a little easier.