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October 29, 2009

Demos Applauds Senator Feingold and Representative Ellison for Introducing Same Day Voter Registration Bill

Federal Proposal Would Increase Voter Participation Nationwide

New York, NY--This week, Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wisconsin) and Representative Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota), introduced legislation in the Senate and House of Representatives that would allow for Same Day Registration (SDR) in all federal elections. With SDR, individuals who missed their states' voter registration deadline can register to vote on Election Day or the period leading up to it, and then cast a valid ballot. Nine states currently offer Same Day Registration. The bill is also cosponsored in the Senate by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) Jon Tester (D-MT), Tom Harkin (D-IA), and John Kerry (D-MA). House cosponsors include Representatives Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Kendrick Meek (D-FL), Timothy Walz (D-MN), Bob Filner (D-CA), and James Oberstar (D-MN).

In response, Miles Rapoport, President of Demos, a national public policy center that has studied and advocated Same Day Registration for nearly a decade, issued the following statement:

We applaud Senator Feingold, Representative Ellison and this bill's Congressional co-sponsors for recognizing the success of Same Day Registration in bringing more voters into the democratic process.

Demos wholeheartedly endorses Same Day Registration, a critical reform that has already been proven to increase voter participation and amplify the voices of Americans previously excluded from the political process. Same Day Registration laws helped over 1.5 million American citizens register and vote in the November 2008 general election.

Nine states currently allow citizens to register and vote on the same day--Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. In these states, some of which have used SDR for 35 years, voter participation rates in Presidential Elections are consistently 7 to 12 percentage points higher than in states without a Same Day Registration law. Experts attribute half that increase directly to Same Day Registration. Indeed, the five states with the highest voter turnout in the 2008 presidential election all allowed Same Day Registration.

The two newest states to enact Same Day Registration, North Carolina and Iowa, both had extraordinarily positive experiences during their first major election with SDR.

North Carolina saw the greatest increase in voting among all states as compared to the 2004 presidential election. Voter turnout rose 8 percentage points over turnout in 2004. In 2008, over 253,000 citizens were able to participate because of SDR, which is available during the state's 16-day early voting period.

Iowa's first major experience with Same Day Registration was also impressive. Nearly 46,000 Iowans used Same Day Registration to register and vote in November 2008. As a result, Iowa had the 5th highest voter turnout in the nation during the 2008 general election. The only states with higher turnouts than Iowa are all Same Day Registration states. Additionally, the need for provisional ballots fell sharply in Iowa after Same Day Registration was introduced, decreasing from 14,661 in 2004 to only 4,725 in 2008.

Modernizing America's voter registration system for the 21st century deserves high priority in Congress. We applaud these members of Congress for taking this critical step toward modernizing elections by providing for Same Day Registration, a reform with a proven track record that will help ensure that every eligible citizen has the opportunity to vote.

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