Our Time Is Now: Power, Purpose, and the Fight for a Fair America

by Stacey Abrams

The place where most of our problems begin is voter registration. The United States is one of only a few industrialized, democratized systems that compels citizens to undergo such rigor to be eligible to participate in voting. In fact, in North Dakota, voter registration isn’t a thing. Already, seventeen states plus D.C. offer some form of automatic registration and twenty-one states plus D.C. give voters same-day registration, including on Election Day. Federal law must go beyond the limited success of motor voter and require automatic registration, same-day registration, and preregistration for sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds. For automatic registration, the process should be designed for interaction with federal and state agencies with the broadest contact, such as expanding beyond DMVs to include courthouses, human services offices, state tax offices, and public housing locations. If states wish to follow the models in Oregon, Washington, and California, the jurisdiction can aggregate data from all sources to register eligible voters, and then citizens who get added must be able to opt out with ease. Like automatic registration, same-day registration would eliminate the patchwork of state rules for when a voter signs up, particularly given the fluidity of twenty-first-century lives. Already, states with early voting allow voters to go to a central location to vote on issues for their neighborhood or district. This capacity should be available for all eligible voters, ...