October 27, 2003
Same-Day Registration
H.R. 3153 is a bill that would require states to allow their citizens to register to vote on the same day that the vote is held.Do you think this is a good idea? I don't see a reason why not....whatever motivates people to get out there and vote.
Posted by: Deborah at October 27, 2003 11:18 PMThe last major thing I heard about same-day registration was that it was part of the explanation for why Jesse Ventura got elected. Basically it empowers the people who normally wouldn't be apt to vote, to vote. It goes against the thinking of the sort of people who believe that if you're going to want to exercise your rights as a citizen, you have to want it bad, or be organized or educated or motivated enough to have registered ahead of time. And people bring up other concerns like that it would be easier to register fraudulently...
But in general I think all those caveats are bullshit and that a lot of the reasoning against same-day-registration is disguised racism and classism. I think "I don't see a reason why not" is dead-on correct, which is why it's so suspicious that there is so much resistance to the idea, especially from Republicans.