Let's make Same Day Registration Universally Available for All American Voters on the 20th Anniversary of the National Voter Registration Act

In our great democracy, voting is a multiple step process. The majority of states require an eligible voter to apply for registration weeks before an election. This means that registration becomes unavailable at the very point when many Americans become interested in the candidates and the issues. For many citizens, this requirement is the ultimate barrier to voting. They miss this deadline, and they are not on the voter rolls. That’s not fair.

First enacted by Maine in 1973, Election Day Registration, or Same Day Registration, is a voter registration rule that allows individuals to register and then to vote on Election Day. An eligible individual arrives at his or her designated polling place, substantiates eligibility, fills out the necessary registration application, and votes on the spot. It’s that simple.

Let’s reduce the hurdles to voting by making Same Day Registration universally available to all Americans. In the states where Same Day Registration is available, voter participation has jumped by as much as 10%!

Two federal bills were introduced earlier this year to enact Same Day Registration. The Same Day Registration Act of 2013 (H.R.280), introduced by Rep Keith Ellison and nine cosponsors, requires states with a voter registration requirement to make same-day voter registration, or updating of an individual's voter registration information, available at the polling place on the date of election itself (or on any day of early voting). U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Jon Tester also introduced legislation to help make voting easier for all Americans. The Same Day Registration Act (Sen. 532) would require states to allow people to register to vote for a federal election on the same day as the election.

It’s that simple.

On the occasion of the 20th Anniversary of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), Americans are calling on our government to make voting more free, fair, and accessible for all. The NVRA streamlined the voter registration process, and now it’s time to boost voter participation by bringing Same Day Registration opportunities to all American voters. We’re asking the members of the Committee on House Administration in the House, and the Committee on Rules and Administration in the Senate which oversee federal elections, to pass these bills and send them on for floor votes.

Twelve states and the District of Columbia already passed Same Day Registration, and it’s popular. According to recent Census data, 6.3% of all voters used Same Day Registration to vote in the 2012 election. That’s nearly 9.5 million Americans who walked into their polling places on Election Day, or during early voting, registered, and voted. All eligible Americans should have this opportunity.

Sign the petition now to make Same Day Registration universally available. Thank you!

(photo by DH Parks, used under a Creative Commons license http://www.flickr.com/photos/parksdh/8161933348/)