Electronic Voter Registration Will Help Clerks, Help Voters, and Save $$

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April 17, 2013 Press conference - Representative Terese Berceau announces (at the 5 minute mark) that a bill for electronic voter registration will soon be circulated seeking co-sponsors.

5 minute MP3 file of the Oct 2012 Senate Hearing

Wisconsin should improve the voter registration system by offering paperless online real-time voter registration.  The direct financial payback will be immediate for municipalities, as it will save the clerk’s time by avoiding manual entry of data from a huge stack of paper forms.

Follow the successful model of 13 other states

Arizona and Washington were first to successfully institute online voter registration (OLVR).   Arizona’s system has been in place since 2002, and in 2008, 39% of those who registered used the online system.  Washington’s system has been in effect since January 2008, and is highly acclaimed by their Secretary of State (see FAQ and testimony and attachments to congressional committee).  Kansas, Oregon, Colorado, Louisiana, Utah, Indiana, Nevada, New York, Maryland, California, and South Carolina also have working systems.   Connecticut, Hawaii, Virginia, and New Mexico have passed legislation and are developing systems.  To ensure an accurate and secure system, there are these limitations:

• Only those with a driver’s license or state identification card can use the online system.
• Most states require instant verification of information submitted before the application is completed
• Online registration closes when open registration closes (20 days before the election in Wisconsin).

HAVA checks

In 2008, Wisconsin had a well-publicized suit on how to handle the “HAVA checks”, the comparison of voter registrations to the driver’s license database.  In contrast, the states that have online registration handle this automatically as part of the process.  This minimizes the extra effort needed on either the part of the voter or the election administrator for the matching process, and minimizes controversy.

Benefits for election administrators

The data submitted online is more complete and accurate than on paper forms.  Online registration significantly reduces the costly and heavy workload of entering data from paper forms, most of which are received when other election tasks are mounting.  In 2008, clerks struggled to process forms in time to get voters on the poll list.  If the bulk of registrations are handled automatically, our election administrators will be able to deal promptly with the paper forms from other voters. 

From a report from PEW Center on the States, August 2009:  “In Maricopa County, Arizona, a paper registration form costs at least 83 cents to process, versus an average of 3 cents for a registration completed online.”

Benefits for Voters

For voters, online real-time registration means a more timely, accessible, and reliable way to register, with immediate confirmation that the registration has been accepted.  This eliminates worries about not being on the poll list due to faulty handling of a paper form, or failing the HAVA check.

States that have systems or have passed bills, in order of activation

142 page report on Washington and Arizona's systems

California and Louisiana also allow those without a driver license or DOT ID card to use the online system to fill-in, print, sign, and mail the form.

States that have online fill, print, sign, & mail, open to all eligible electors:  Delaware, Washington DC, and Wisconsin.

Ohio has online change of address

Bills that have been introduced but not passed, alphabetically

From testimony of Katie Blinn, Assistant Director of Elections on behalf of Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed, to the Congressional Committee on House Administration, Oct 21, 2009:

“The online voter registration system has also been very popular with election administrators. It has reduced their workload because the information comes in electronically. They don’t have to spend so much time manually entering the information from paper forms. This also reduces the risk of mistyping a voter’s name, address, date of birth, etc.”

Web page by Paul Malischke malischke@yahoo.com  Last updated May 15, 2013