Congressional Democrats Introduce Critical Automatic Voter Registration Legislation

Today, Congressman Robert Brady, the ranking member of the Committee on House Administration, introduced the “Automatic Voter Registration Act of 2016.” A companion bill has also been introduced in the Senate. In response, Brenda Wright, Demos’ Vice President of Policy and Legal Strategies, offered the following statement of support:

“Demos applauds the introduction of the Automatic Voter Registration Act of 2016, legislation that is designed to increase voter participation by modernizing voter registration systems nationwide. Voter‑friendly reforms such as automatic voter registration, online voter registration, and portable voter registration can streamline and ease the voter registration process, ultimately adding millions of Americans to the voter rolls. Demos encourages broad and inclusive access to voting, and we are especially supportive of including agencies that serve a broad cross-section of citizens to take part in the voter registration process. Outdated, unnecessary, and cumbersome processes currently inhibit too many Americans from exercising their most fundamental of rights. Improvement of these processes is needed to achieve a robust, truly inclusive democracy and to promote the role of government as a good‑faith partner in this effort. We applaud Representative Brady and Senate leaders in their effort to improve our democracy.”