Same-Day Voter Registration
Issue: Expanding Democracy
Target Level of Office: State
Policy Origin: Hawaii State Legislature
Poilcy/Bill Number: House Bill 2590
Link: www.YEONetwork.org/2013policy/?i=253
YEO Sponsor:
Rep. Kaniela Ing
Summary Narrative of the Policy: This bill allows residents to register to vote at early voting
locations in 2016 and at all election day polling places in 2018.
Relevant Talking Points & Important Information:
• Same-day registration allows any qualified resident of the state to go to the polls or an
election official’s office, register that day, and then vote. Depending on the state, this
one-stop process for registration and voting may be offered on Election Day, during the
early voting period, or both.
• Same-day registration increases voter turnout. According to Demos, states that allow
SDR consistently lead the nation in voter participation. Four of the top five states for
voter turnout in the 2012 presidential election all offered SDR with average voter turnout
over 10 percentage points higher than in other states.
• Same-day registration eliminates arbitrary deadlines that cut off registration when voters
are most interested. Many citizens become most interested and engaged with elections
in the last few weeks before Election Day, when candidate debates and campaigns reach
their peak; however, registration deadlines may have already passed at that point. In fact,
many states leave out potential voters by closing voter registration 25 – 30 days before
an election.
• According to our partners at the Brennan Center, same-day registration also fixes
inaccurate voter rolls. May previously-registered voters lose their eligibility merely
because they moved residences, while other are never added to the voter rolls because
of bureaucratic error. Failure to discover these problems prior to Election Day results in
eligible citizens blocked from the polls. With same-day registration, these voters can
simply update registration records or re-register on the spot without losing their right to
vote.
Policy
2014 Book
State Level
87