The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Sept. 26, 2023
Today’s Script
(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)
You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.
Eligible citizens in Pennsylvania will now be automatically registered to vote when obtaining a new driver’s license or state ID, unless they opt out of the system. Such “Automatic Voter Registration” or AVR, systems have registered millions of voters in the 23 states where it’s been implemented.
Pennsylvania had been offering “opt in” voter registration at the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, known as PennDOT, where eligible voters could answer questions and have their registration submitted to local officials by the agency.
The change ordered by Governor Josh Shapiro on National Voter Registration Day allows PennDOT to use verified residency and citizenship documents used in their process to automatically register the citizen to vote. Votebeat reports that PennDOT’s voter registration efforts have not always been smooth, and that some state officials were surprised by Shapiro’s announcement.
In the year after Colorado implemented automatic voter registration in 2020, 250,000 new voters were registered, including thousands of young voters. In a 10 month period in 2022, Colorado averaged over 14,000 new AVR registrations per month. In an interview on MSNBC, Gov. Shapiro said there are an estimated 1.6 million Pennsylvanians who qualify as voters, but who are not registered.
The registration deadline for citizens wishing to vote in Pennsylvania’s Nov. 7th elections is October 26th. We have links to articles about Pennsylvania’s new system, and a study about Colorado’s AVR success at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.
Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
Office of Gov. Josh Shapiro – Governor Shapiro Implements Automatic Voter Registration in Pennsylvania
MSNBC – Interview with Gov. Josh Shapiro
Spotlight PA/Votebeat – Pa. will now prompt people to register to vote when they get a driver’s license
PA Dept. of State – Voter and Election Information Page
National Conference of State Legislatures – States With Automatic Voter Registration
Justin Grimmer and Jonathan Rodden, Stanford University – Changing the Default: The Impact of Motor-Voter Reform in Colorado
Groups Taking Action:
League of Women Voters PA, Common Cause PA, Conservation Voters of PA and PennFuture
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#Democracy #DemocracyNews #AutomaticVoterRegistration #PennsylvaniaPolitics #LetthemVote