VRM in the States: Colorado
Colorado currently has the Online Registration, Election Day Registration and Portability components of Voter Registration Modernization in place. Colorado also has electronic pollbooks in at least one county and pre-registration.
The excerpt below was adapted from an appendix to the 2010 report Voter Registration in a Digital Age.
Background
Colorado authorized an online registration system in May 2009, and officials introduced it in April 2010. Enabling legislation passed the State Senate unanimously; one initial skeptic, Republican State Senator Greg Brophy, voted for the bill after declaring, "I am absolutely positive this is going to be not only secure, but a necessary step forward." According to a spokesman for the Secretary of State, developing online registration cost the state approximately $120,000.
Outcomes
Almost 5,000 people registered online in the system’s first three months, with one of the online bill’s sponsors, Democratic State Representative Joe Miklosi, declaring himself “absolutely thrilled” with this response. The Secretary of State’s office has provided a demographic breakdown of this group of users that reveals several notable trends.
The most striking is online registration’s popularity with younger voters. While 40 to 60 year-olds accounted for 34% of users, 17-30 year-olds accounted for 33% (17 year-olds are permitted to register if they will turn 18 before the next election). This parity is highly unusual, because younger voters usually lag far behind older ones in their rate of registration. In 2008, 18 to 30 year-olds only accounted for about 20% of registered voters nationwide, whereas 40 to 60 year-olds accounted for 40%. Analysis also determined that men made up 54% of these initial online users (compared to 48% of all registered voters in 2008), while a plurality (39%) affiliated with the Republican Party.
How Online Registration Works in Colorado
A visitor to the Colorado Secretary of State’s website who follows a "register to vote" link is informed that, if she has a Colorado driver license or state identification card, she can register to vote online; for those without these cards, a link to a printable registration form is provided. If the user clicks “register online,” she proceeds to a page that requires her to provide her name, date of birth, and driver license or state ID number. The page also lists the next registration deadline, notes that false registration is against the law, and provides another link to a printable registration form. A sidebar contains links to a FAQ and to a Spanish-language version of the online registration program.
The user's driver license or state ID number is verified against DMV records in real time, and the user cannot proceed if the system fails to find a match. If it does, she continues to a page in which she enters her residential address, mailing address (if different), party affiliation, and gender. If the user is already registered, the page will display information already on file and allow her to make changes. She can also choose to provide a phone number and e-mail address, and may indicate whether she would like to become a mail-in voter.
The user reviews her information on the following page and continues on if everything is accurate. On a final page she must check three boxes to indicate that she authorizes the use of her DMV signature for voter registration purposes; affirms that she is eligible to vote and has provided accurate information; and acknowledges that false registration is a crime. The user then clicks a button to submit her application, and reviews a confirmation page.
