Dear Editor,
Voting is the premise of American democracy and one of our most fundamental rights and acts of citizenship. Unfortunately, many people are left out of the election process because they either have filled out the form incorrectly, forgot to do so at all, or just thought it was too much work.
In fact, over two million eligible Illinois residents were unregistered last election, and others had difficulty on Election Day due to problems with their registration. I know firsthand just how difficult registering to vote can be for some, especially young people.
I volunteered last year on UIUC’s campus to register our goal of 1,500 students to vote. We had a lot of success and exceeded expectations by registering over 2,000 people. However, among those there were many who made small mistakes in the forms, such as not checking a box, and were unable to vote in the election because of this simple mistake if they registered late and couldn’t come in to fix it.

Equally worrying was just how many young people thought we already had a system of automatic voting registration in place. Many thought that since they had drivers licenses and other identification as a U.S. citizen that they could just show up to the polls and vote. I and many other volunteers had to repeatedly explain that we don’t currently have such a system in place even though it would be a lot more efficient and would cut down on unnecessary paperwork for the state.
There was an Automatic Voter Registration bill that would modernize voter registration in Illinois last year, but Governor Rauner vetoed it because he disagreed with some aspects of the bill. Now an amended bill is set to come to his desk yet again this year and would make sure everyone gets a say in our political process. It would work by employing an “opt-out process” in which citizens of Illinois would be registered to vote whenever they interact with certain state agencies such as the DMV. Automatic Voter Registration has very high support among the public, but it has only been able to be suppressed because many aren’t aware such legislation is being considered.
In fact, an Automatic Voter Registration system will not only increase participation in government, but would also cut costs. The first state to implement this policy was Oregon last year and it increased voter turnout significantly and also successfully dealt with the problems caused to local election agencies with all the excess paperwork. As a Political Science Professor in the state said, “The election forms tend to come in a glut right before election day.” By registering voters throughout the year through government agencies, like the DMV, states can avoid hiring temporary workers and paying massive amounts of overtime to employees in the days before an election.
Illinois is far from the only state seeking to implement automatic voter registration in the near future, in 2017 alone there will be over 20 states putting forth legislation to make this system of registering to vote the norm. It has already passed in states such as California, Alaska, and West Virginia among several others. It is more than a little disappointing to see such a huge issue receive such little media coverage. There has been much talk about voter suppression in the past few elections and this would certainly help fight this by making it so that everyone can have a say in their local, state, and federal elections.
I urge all citizens to support the amended Automatic Voter Registration bill because to have our state government operate without hearing every voice of Illinois is a hindrance to progress and a poor reflection on the values we hold so dear.