Josh Goodman is a former staff writer for GOVERNING..
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Should Voter Registration Be Automatic?
A Washington Post editorial looks at bipartisan support for automatic voter registration:
ONE WAS general counsel to John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign, the other held a similar post with Al Franken's campaign for the Minnesota U.S. Senate seat. It's hard to imagine Trevor Potter and Marc Elias agreeing on much. Yet the experiences of last fall's political campaigns helped convince both men that there is something fundamentally wrong with how America votes -- or, more precisely, how America registers to vote. The result is a unique, bipartisan effort that we hope will prod Congress and the states to action.
The Committee to Modernize Voter Registration will be formally launched Monday. Its aim is to replace the country's cumbersome, paper-based system of voter registration with one that uses new technologies and government databases to build a more lasting roster. It wants to shift the burden so that states try to register all eligible voters, rather than waiting for individuals to come to them.
I wonder if the reformers will look to North Dakota, where there is no voter registration at all.
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