2 weeks Ago
It’s possible to view the meteoric increase in same-day registration and voting in Virginia’s election last year as a great thing or a big problem. The right answer, if you believe in democracy, is that the surge in same-day registration is a big plus because it makes it easier for people to vote. That means a lot more people get involved in the democratic process.
It means a lot more people have a stake in who is making decisions that affect their lives, sometimes in ways they might not have considered. It could mean more people will realize that the vote to which they are entitled really is important, that it’s worth paying more attention to what the candidates stand for beyond what shows up in a brief ad or on a billboard. Sure, you could reasonably argue that people already should be involved, and that they should have registered well before they headed to the polls.
But things happen, and there are all sorts of reasons people might not have been registered — they moved here only recently, their registration was canceled without their knowledge after their address changed, they had never voted and felt intimidated by an unfamiliar process, or they thought politics didn’t matter but had an epiphany. Who knows? The point is, last November, 114,884 people in Virginia registered the day they voted. It was Virginia’s first presidential election when registering and voting on the same day was allowed.
For 89,362 of those voters, that day was Election Day. The other 25,525 registered at an early-voting location and took advantage of the opportunity to get the job done all at once. For our democracy to work — and lately, that does not seem to be guaranteed — we need to have more citizens invested in the process.
Making it easier for qualified people to vote, even if they waited until the last minute to register, promotes that investment. So why do some people think same-day registration is a big problem? An obvious answer is that same-day registration — especially at the high level experienced last year — means more work for local election officials. People who vote the same day they register must cast provisional ballots.
After the voting, election boards meet to review each provisional ballot. Officials check such things as whether a voter is a U.S.
citizen, has not been disqualified because of a felony conviction or incompetency ruling, and lives in the precinct in question. They also issue provisional ballots to people who arrive at the polls without an ID or who want to vote after having applied for an absentee ballot but not using it. Officials have 10 days to check these ballots, as well as to make sure their overall vote counts are accurate.
If a lot of people use same-day voting, officials may feel overwhelmed. Lawmakers might be tempted to decide it’s just too much trouble and end same-day voting. While doing so might ease pressures in the short run, it would be a mistake in the long run.
If democracy is to succeed, a majority of our citizenry should believe strongly enough in it to participate. It’s worth the effort and, yes, the money if necessary to make same-day voting work. Sign up for Viewpoints, an opinion newsletter Sadly, we should remember that there are those who would prefer that some people not be allowed to vote, many of whom might be among those who for one reason or another show up at the polls hoping to register and vote on the same day.
Even if some people wish otherwise, our country is diverse and growing more that way. Women and minorities of various sorts have made great strides in recent decades. It is vital that all qualified citizens find that it’s easy for them to participate in the democratic process.
State and local officials in Virginia should support same-day registration and voting, and they should provide whatever resources are needed to make that opportunity work..
