VRM in the States: Electronic Registration

Electronic Registration, sometimes known as Automated Registration, is a key component of Voter Registration Modernization. This gives citizens the choice to be electronically registered to vote at the same time they do business with a government office, such as apply for a driver’s license or state veterans’ benefits, by digitally transferring their voter registration information to the appropriate elections office. This will upgrade our system, eliminate errors caused by paper records, and clean up the voter rolls. 

• At least 35 states — Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia — plus the District of Columbia, currently  or will soon have fully or substantially electronic voter registration at DMVs.

• At least 32 states plus the District of Columbia currently or will soon have a full electronic registration system in that no paper is exchanged between DMVs and election officials. These full electronic registration states include Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia. Three states have a partial electronic registration system, whereby DMVs electronically transfer at least some registration information, but have not completely eliminated the transfer of separate paper forms. These partial electronic registration states include Kentucky, Michigan, and South Carolina.

• At least three states, Delaware, Illinois, and Kentucky, have, or soon will have, electronic registration at social service agencies in addition to the DMV. 

• 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, the Help America Vote Act, 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.