In 2015, Oregon pioneered automatic voter registration (AVR). Citizens who “apply for or renew their driver’s license” at the DMV are automatically registered to vote unless they opt out. Under AVR, Oregon added 68,583 new voters in just six months. By the end of July 2016, the state’s “torrid pace” had swelled the rolls by 222,197 new voters. And equally impressive, its voter turnout rate in the 2016 election increased from 64 to 68 percent, “more than any other state”—but also the income, age, and racial diversity of the electorate was enhanced by AVR, as was the participation of first-time
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