VRM in the States: Automatic Registration

Automated Registration

A number of states have automated mechanisms in place that automatically register eligible citizens based on information on other government lists, while other states have considered such a system.

• At least 17 states—Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, and Washington—have fully or substantially automated the voter registration process at DMVs.  When voters register or update their information at DMVs, the information is electronically transmitted to election officials.  The Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) announced that it intends to automate the voter registration system at MVA offices.  Additionally, Delaware is set to automate at public service agencies in May 2011.
• In Minnesota, the state legislature passed an automatic voter registration bill that was vetoed by the governor. 
• 38 state DMVs automatically register all eligible young men for the Selective Service, as do a variety of other federal and state agencies. 
• Thanks to a 2002 federal law, every state now has (or soon will have) a computerized statewide voter registration database capable of sharing information in some form with other government databases.