Allow me to thank the Chair and members of the Committee for this opportunity to testify before you today on Bill 18-345, the “Omnibus Election Reform Act of 2009.” I will focus my remarks on Sec. 301, the bill’s Same Day Registration (SDR) provisions.
In enacting Same Day Registration, the District of Columbia would become the tenth jurisdiction in the nation to permit eligible citizens to both register and vote on the same day. Maine, Minnesota and Wisconsin adopted SDR in the 1970’s. New Hampshire, Idaho and Wyoming followed suit twenty years later. Three more states moved to Same Day Registration in the last several years: Montana (2006), North Carolina (2007), and Iowa (2008). All have been able to open up their voter registration systems with minimal costs and without compromising the integrity of their elections. I have attached three recent Demos reports on Election Day Registration for your review: Voters Win with Election Day Registration, Election Day Registration: Best Practice, and Election Day Registration; A Study of Voter Fraud Allegations and Findings on Voter Roll Security.
