Automatic voter registration is one of a handful of election reforms Connecticut lawmakers are considering.
New legislation means even more people could be added to the voter rolls by automatically pre-registering minors to vote when they receive a learner’s permit.
Connecticut’s Department of Motor Vehicles is vital for registering people to vote, and was an integral part of the surge in voter turnout last year.
More than 80,000 registered during transactions around the state. Now advocates want to expand that, making it automatic for people to register to vote when they turn 16. Using information they already provided to various state agencies, they’d be signed up to vote simultaneously when signing up for a driver’s license, or even healthcare through Medicaid.
Eighteen would remain the age for actually casting a ballot.
“I think this is a great way for us to rethink how we do that and it’s not a mandatory thing, any more than election day registration is and we can definitely make it more accessible and affordable,” said Cheri Quickmire of Common Cause CT.
Connecticut currently has Election Day registration. It’s been successful, but it also led to historic, lengthy and inconvenient lines in New Haven. Hundreds had to wait in line to sign up and then vote.
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Supporters say automatic registration would change that.
“All too often people show up to the polls on election day, they think that they’re registered and it turns out that they’re not. This just simply makes it easier to vote. Something that states are already doing all across the country,” Sen. Matt Lesser (D- Middletown) said.
Right now 16 states have some level of automatic registration and most are dependent on motor vehicle agencies.
Opponents have not yet lined up, but some Republicans have expressed concerns.
They argue that voting is a right, but willpower should also be part of the process.
"A part of me says we need to have some personal responsibility, too and I think that’s there’s a little initiative required, that you should go and register to vote yourself, get yourself informed about the issues before you go out and vote,” said Sen. Rob Sampson (R-Wolcott).
Secretary of the State Denise Merrill supports automatic voter registration, and so too does Gov. Ned Lamont.
Merrill is also pushing for early voting this year. Connecticut is one of only about a dozen states that doesn’t allow for some kind of early voting without an excuse.
