PREMISE:
The current model of “voter” registration is a carryover from the British system established during the birth of our country was based on a time when:
- The main mode of transportation was shanks mare (feet)
- Cargo was moved by horse drawn wagons
- It could take days and multiple riders for information to travel from the State Capital to any point in the state and weeks if information needed to move from one end of the country to another (say Maine to Florida). As the country expanded that time could be measured in months (east coast to west coast).
During those times the idea of “Voter Registration” being localized made sense as the vast majority of the population was born, lived, and died in the same 100 mile circle.
That time is passed, we now live in the age of a highly mobile society with instant communications. Hell sitting here on the east coast I can pick up a phone, punch in a few numbers and be talking with my daughter stationed in Japan.
RECOMMENDATION:
Therefore I think it’s time to fundamentally change the core concept of “Voter Registration” from the current model of registering to vote and having to prove you are eligible to being automatically an eligible voter unless the franchised is removed for a reason (felony, death, mental incapacity, etc.).
This fundamental shift from “having to register to vote” to “eligible voter” would be based on the integration of various sources of information into a central clearing house that all states would be required to participate in for election for federal offices. If they decided to maintain a separate parallel system for state/local elections, they would be free to do so.
All eligible citizens are fundamentally considered “registered to vote” as long as they are of the correct age and have not had their franchise removed. So it becomes less a question of “who” is eligible to vote, the only remaining question is “where” they are eligible to vote.
This “Voter Electronic Eligibility Center” system would include:
- Real time access to voter eligibility information via an encrypted secure network to state and local boards of election.
- State and local boards would be able to download voters whose address falls within their jurisdiction.
- State and local officials would have access to querying and updating individual statuses.
- Information would be integrated from various sources which provide input into the system.
- State Department responsible for vital records - births, deaths, etc.
- State Department of Taxation – current address, change of Address
- State Department of Motor Vehicles – current address, change of address
- State Departments of State – Court actions and restoration of franchise after removed by court action
- United States Postal Service – National valid addresses, change of address
- Social Security Administration – births deaths, etc.
- Federal Department of State – naturalization of new citizens
- The various Felony level courts at both the State and Federal level – removal of the franchise via felony conviction
Because of the data integration between the various agencies, the idea “voter eligibility” is shifted. There are no “purging the roles” based on inactivity. All citizens are considered active voters.
Where you vote then becomes a function of your primary legal address (of which you will only have one). If you move, that address change will automatically be fed into the system and your information would be downloaded to the local elections office.
When you are born, you are automatically registered into the system and become “eligible to vote” at your 18th birthday. You just have to wait to get there of course.
If you die, when that death is registered it is automatically communicated to the VEEC making you ineligible to vote.
Now in my humble opinion, it would take 10-15 years for such a system. First you need funding. Then the IT experts and Database geeks are going to have to map out the secure communication systems and data interface software that will function between agencies. Then you are going to need a few years each of “Alpha” and “Beta” testing before it can really go live. But once all the players are in place it could really streamline what we view as “voter registration” making it so much easier for (a) us as individuals and (b) for the voting process in general.
WW
