In Oregon, register to vote online
Kari Chisholm
As of today, Oregonians can now register to vote online - provided that they have a driver's license.
Register to vote online here. (Not sure if you're registered at your current address? Check here.)
The voter registration deadline for the May 2010 primary is April 27. (If you just need to change your address, you can do that right up to election day, May 18.)
Oregon is now the fourth state to offer online voter registration, following Arizona, Kansas, and Washington. According to the Oregonian's Bill Graves, Colorado, Louisiana, and Indiana will do so later this spring.
Secretary of State Kate Brown told OPB why the state is moving in this direction:
Kate Brown: “Oregonians turn out to vote once they registered. In fact, in November of 2008 our voter turnout was 85.7%, one of the highest in the nation. Where we’re lagging is actually registration." Brown hopes younger Oregonians in particular, who are under represented, will be more likely to take part in the process now that they can register from their home computers.
In an op-ed in today's Oregonian, Brown explained further:
Oregon's registered voters have always done a great job of voting. In 2008, the last general election, 85.7 percent of them cast ballots, the third highest in our history and one of the highest in the country in a year of record-breaking turnout. But that means about 640,000 Oregonians could not cast ballots in 2008 because they failed to register to vote.
What about security? Secretary of State Brown:
To register online, an eligible voter must have a valid Oregon driver's license, driver's permit or ID card. The signature on the Department of Motor Vehicles card then becomes the signature on the voter card, which at election time is used to validate the voter's ballot. Voters can also change their party registration and file a change of address.Oregonians can be reassured about security. At the start of our process, applicants must attest that they are U.S. citizens and residents of Oregon. Without this legal affirmation, they cannot register. Applicants will know that fraudulent registration is a crime. The Oregon Department of Justice will prosecute illegalities, and conviction can bring five years in prison, a $125,000 fine and, when appropriate, deportation.
And what about cost? From the O:
In Arizona, the first to offer electronic registration in 2002, 70 percent of new voter registrations are now done online. In Maricopa County, registration costs dropped from 83 cents per paper transaction to 3 cents per online transaction.Washington also has saved money with its online registration, which accounted for a third of all new registrations in 2008. The cost for each registration dropped from $1.55 on paper to 45 cents online. About 30 percent of the people registering online are between ages 18 and 24, said Shane Hamlin, assistant director of elections for Washington.
A study released last year by the Pew Center on the States put the total cost of registering voters in Oregon in 2008 at $9.7 million. The study found that 220,243 new registrations along with updates produced 1.2 million transactions, at a cost of $8.43 per transaction.
This is very exciting. Congrats to Oregon! Discuss.
 |
More Recent Posts | |
Albert Kaufman |
|
Guest Column |
|
Kari Chisholm |
|
Kari Chisholm |
Final pre-census estimate: Oregon's getting a sixth congressional seat |
Albert Kaufman |
Polluted by Money - How corporate cash corrupted one of the greenest states in America |
Guest Column |
|
Albert Kaufman |
Our Democrat Representatives in Action - What's on your wish list? |
Kari Chisholm |
|
Guest Column |
|
Kari Chisholm |
|
connect with blueoregon
Mar 1, '10
This is a great first step toward fully modernizing the voter registration system in Oregon. More can be done to ensure that registrations automatically follow people as they move. Also, we should be considering automatic registration when citizens turn 18. They do it for selective service for men, we should be able to get a lot of people registered to vote automatically.
Mar 1, '10
One factual point - a DMV license is required. This can include a driving permit or official ID in addition to a drivers license proper.
More is needed and there is still a digital divide etc. For now, a big congrats to the Elections Division staff who did a major IT project on a fast pace.
Mar 1, '10
Jon B:
Also, we should be considering automatic registration when citizens turn 18.
Bob T:
No, we shouldn't. Anyone who who wishes to remain an apolitical citizen by refusing to be registered to vote should have that freedom. To register such a person creates an opportunity for others to vote in that person's place (to name just one flaw). If you don't believe in forcing them to vote, then you shouldn't support automatic registration, either.
Jon B:
They do it for selective service for men, we should be able to get a lot of people registered to vote automatically.
Bob T:
Hardly the same thing. Just because the State does one thing you should oppose doesn't mean you should support it doing something else that smacks of force.
If you want to copy the selective service model, then eventually you will have to tie failure to register (or to remain registered) with the availability of school loans and the like.
Man, someone sounds like a liberal in this discussion -- and it ain't you.
Bob Tiernan Portland
1:57 p.m.
Mar 1, '10
Janice
Why does the digital divide concern you? The ability register at the DMV and via paper is still there. Is it because this will result, potentially, in unequal registration rolls?
Mar 1, '10
Before online voter registration there were gaps between the numbers of Oregonians eligible to vote and actually registered. Evidence from other states is that registration levels improve when online voter registration is added to the mix but the gap isn't completely closed. One factor is presumably the digital divide, leading me to hail this improvement in Oregon with a cautionary note that by itself it won't eliminate the gap between eligibility and actual registration. To be clear this is also recognized by our state election administrators.
4:48 p.m.
Mar 1, '10
Any speculation about how this will affect voter turnout? Or if it will?
Mar 1, '10
Good. Voting should be mandatory. Now maybe we can get around to having someone worth voting for.
5:28 p.m.
Mar 1, '10
This will increase registration and voting.
I ask the younger employees where I work to register at every election and invariably someone says they want to on the last day but cannot get to the county or consider too difficult. If I could show them where to register on-line I know they would do it. This will also help the younger voters who move once a year to make sure that they can vote.
Mar 1, '10
Janice - one clarification. You'll need a drivers license (or other state ID) which has your digital signature attached to it. No signature on file at DMV, no online registration.
Looks like a very secure system. Good work on the state's part.
Mar 1, '10
While this is certainly a good thing, I'm still jealous of how it's handled in Nordic countries:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_turnout#Voter_registration
Mar 1, '10
Why is registration even necessary? It seems to me that every resident citizen should be de-facto registered. To vote for the first time, a new voter would print and fill out a ballot from the internet, seal it in an envelope, and mail this and an "initial voter" form for official address, driver's license number or other id, in an outer envelope. Once checked out, the vote would be tallied and the voter would be added to the list of automatically mailed ballots.
Mar 2, '10
Just so you'all know:
This new item you are now doing is the catapault for the Province of Alberta to do the same thing. The province has been having problems with voter turnout (and extreme apathy) over the last few years, even with the infrequent voting (Federal, Provincial, and Local). It got heavy media play during the just completed olympics here in Canada. Imagine my ears perking up when they said (on CTV-Edmonton) when the idea of this is being done in Oregon.
Once again - Oregon Leads the way...this time Internationally.
Mar 2, '10
I must have missed the safeguards about making sure you are a legal citizen before registering.
Oh that's right! You swear or affirm you are legally entitled to vote.
Because anyone who already broke the law being here illegally will suddenly tell the truth when considering whether to register to vote.
Mar 2, '10
I don't know why people are so worried about undocumented aliens voting. If I was in a country illegally I'd want to keep my head down and mind my own business. I certainly wouldn't want to potentially attract attention to myself by voting. If non-citizens voting is such a problem why haven't I heard of someone being prosecuted for it? Probably because it's a rare event that could only affect a 1 or 2 vote margin race if it did happen.
Mar 3, '10
Or because it's a complaint-driven system that doesn't work quickly and news media has moved on when the decisions are rendered.
An opportunity for fraud means fraud will happen. There's no excuse for ignoring safeguards.
Why are you against preventing illegal voting?
3:51 p.m.
Mar 3, '10
Ken you're a bud, but that's just not true. If governments or individuals order their behavior based on negatives that may occur despite no evidence that they are occuring, one might easily wind up fighting the wrong war, or ascribing mythical and demonic powers to charitable organizations working to get the poor involved in the demcratic process.
It's called the Cheney/O'Keefe/Breitbart Doctrine.
4:06 p.m.
Mar 3, '10
Ken - Undocumented workers cannot obtain a driver's license in Oregon. You can't use the system unless you have one. Additionally, the maximum civil penalty for false registration is $150,000 on top of criminal liability, on top of increasing their risk of deportation.
I can see an incentive for undocumented workers to seek employment in the United States, but what exactly do you see as the incentive for undocumented workers to vote?
Mar 3, '10
Ken, I think with all the attention the issue has received during the past few years that some of the people making the most noise about it would have done research and if they had found decisions that supported their view we all would have heard about it by now. Instead I hear about accusations being made and AG's declining to go to court with them because there's nothing to prosecute.
<hr/>