Coming soon to Oregon: Online voter registration!

[ccharles000]

Great news for fans of democracy: Yesterday, the Oregon Senate passed HB 2386 - approving online voter registration.

Online voter reg is a great thing for reaching out to young people and encouraging them to vote (and everybody else, too!). After all, it now means that we'll be able to send around the link to the voter registration site via email, facebook, and twitter.

Oregon becomes the fourth state to make this happen, joining our Western neighbors - Washington, California, and Arizona. From the O's Jeff Mapes, yesterday:

In Washington last year, 25 percent of all new registrants did so over the internet, according to David Ammons, a spokesman for the secretary of state's office. He also said officials there have not found any problems with fraud.
Under the Oregon bill, would-be voters need to have a driver's license or state identification card to register online. The signature they use for their license or ID card is then used to match with the signature they provide on their mail ballots.

Supporters of the bill say it will make the registration process easier while being just as secure as current methods.


The bill is headed back to the House for a concurrence vote on some minor amendments. No major obstacles there, though. Big props to Representatives Ben Cannon and Jefferson Smith, who were the lead sponsors.

http://www.blueoregon.com/2009/06/online-voter-registration.html