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Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) intends to sign legislation supported by both chambers of the Illinois legislature that will automatically register people to vote when they interact with state drivers' facilities and other state agencies.

The decision to sign the legislation marks a big victory for voting rights advocates. Rauner vetoed a similar measure last year. At the time, he said the legislation would ”inadvertently open the door to voter fraud and run afoul of federal election law."

”We must protect the sanctity of our election process, and we thank the bill sponsors and stakeholders who worked with us on this piece of legislation. The Governor will sign it," Eleni Demertzis, a Rauner spokeswoman wrote in an email.

Link. Searched and didn't see a thread.

Illinois' legislature unanimously passed legislation Monday that would make it the ninth state with automatic voter registration, adding over one million new voters to the rolls.

The bill would automatically register eligible citizens who visit the Department of Motor Vehicles, Secretary of State's office, and several other state agencies unless they opt out. It heads to Gov. Bruce Rauner (R)'s desk after final approval by the state senate, which also unanimously passed it earlier this month.

Advocates estimate that roughly one million out of 2.2 million unregistered but eligible Illinois voters will be added to the rolls once they visit a participating agency.

The bill marks the second time lawmakers in Illinois have attempted to enact automatic registration. Last August, Rauner vetoed a similar bill, citing the threat of non-citizens committing voter fraud even though studies show that voter fraud, particularly by non-citizens, is virtually non-existent.

”The consequences could be injurious to our election system," Rauner said at the time, urging the legislature to make reforms to the bill before sending it back to him.

A majority of the state senate voted to override his veto in November, but a few weeks later, the general assembly narrowly voted to uphold Rauner's decision. The override failed by just four votes.

Democrats in Illinois' legislature kept trying. The legislation the assembly passed this week is largely similar to the original bill, but allows eligible citizens to opt out before they are automatically registered, while the last incarnation of the bill would have made them take themselves off the rolls once they were registered.

Currently, eight states and the District of Columbia have approved automatic voter registration, following the example of Oregon, which saw record levels of participation after it became the first state to implement the policy in 2015. Illinois would be the first state to automatically register citizens who visit agencies other than the DMV.

All evidence shows that automatic registration helps boost voter turnout, but Republicans continue to disapprove of the policy because higher turnout tends to help Democrats win elections. Rauner won his election to governor in 2014 by just over 142,000 votes.

 

[shadowsdarknes]

Seems like common sense, really. We should strive to improve voter registration and participation.

 

[Dead Man]

Seems like a win.

 

[ShadowSwordmaster]

This seems like good news.

 

[Protein]

Republicans will never support this because it helps the other party.

 

[Widdle Puppy]

Great, now make it nation wide...

Then change election day to a weekend and make voting mandetory.

 

[BADMAN]

Good stuff. I wonder what percentage of people would have voted if they had remembered to register in time.

 

[smisk]

Sweet, hope other states do this too. I should really call my state rep here in VA and voice my support for something similar. Vote by mail would be great too.
Though we already require a photo ID to vote so I doubt our stupid red legislature would make it easier for anyone to vote.

 

[BatDan]

I think I made a mistake moving from Illinois to Wisconsin. Especially in Spineless Ryan's district (didn't realize until too late)

 

[Stinkles]

Seems like common sense, really. We should strive to improve voter registration and participation.

You should be suspicious of anyone saying otherwise.

 

[Haly]

Not going to matter if people don't vote but this is still a positive direction.

 

[Rockandrollclown]

Good stuff. Voting should be made as simple as possible.

 

[jelly]

Nice one, hope they vote.

 

[fredrancour]

I think I made a mistake moving from Illinois to Wisconsin. Especially in Spineless Ryan's district (didn't realize until too late)

But it's only R+5 and you get to campaign against him!

 

[Cosmo Clock 21]

Judging by the snippets posted, it's just going to get vetoed again. Is that alteration really going to be enough to get Rauner to pass the bill, or secure enough votes to overturn it in the legislature?

 

[Media]

As I just moved here from Oregon, I wish they'd do mail ballots too. Makes it so damned easy to vote.

 

[HStallion]

Yeah but the next step is automatic voting whether you actually decide to vote or not.

 

[Neoweee]

As I just moved here from Oregon, I wish they'd do mail ballots too. Makes it so damned easy to vote.

Yes, yes it would make it easy to vote. The state legislature has too many Republicans for voting to be that easy, unfortunately.

 

[a Master Ninja]

Yeah but the next step is automatic voting whether you actually decide to vote or not.

*insert Chicago corruption joke here*

 

[Averon]

The bill marks the second time lawmakers in Illinois have attempted to enact automatic registration. Last August, Rauner vetoed a similar bill, citing the threat of non-citizens committing voter fraud even though studies show that voter fraud, particularly by non-citizens, is virtually non-existent.

I wish someone would corner these people and have them show proof that voter fraud is worth worrying about.

 

[RoadHazard]

I don't understand why this isn't standard? Why require people to register? What's the point? Here in Sweden everyone who's​ eligible to vote automatically gets vote cards and stuff sent home, and then on election day you just go do it.

 

[The Greek Freak]

Great, now make it nation wide...

Then change election day to a weekend and make voting mandetory.

Make it election week or people with shit jobs will still get fucked.

 

[Mimir]

As I just moved here from Oregon, I wish they'd do mail ballots too. Makes it so damned easy to vote.

I get why they don't have universal voting by mail in red states, but I don't understand why more solidly blue states don't have it. It's a better system in every way.

 

[KDR_11k]

Since it seems to have unanimous support in the senate can they just overrule a veto if the governor tries to veto it again?

 

[Lord Frieza]

But it's only R+5 and you get to campaign against him!

Didn't a gerrymander get knocked down down in his district, too?

 

[Neoweee]

Rauner has announced that he will sign it. It's happening.

I don't understand why this isn't standard? Why require people to register? What's the point? Here in Sweden everyone who's​ eligible to vote automatically gets vote cards and stuff sent home, and then on election day you just go do it.

Voter suppression is an important part of American history, and a cornerstone of Republican strategies.

Even with little knowledge of American politics, you can probably guess which states made it harder to vote this cycle than it was in 2012 or 2008.

 

[Zoe]

I don't understand why this isn't standard? Why require people to register? What's the point? Here in Sweden everyone who's​ eligible to vote automatically gets vote cards and stuff sent home, and then on election day you just go do it.

How do they know who's eligible? How do they know where to send the cards to?

 

[Lord Frieza]

Oh shit, they have a GOP governor? Goddammit, of course they do.

EDIT: Nevermind, missed the post above. Good to know.

 

[KDR_11k]

I don't understand why this isn't standard? Why require people to register? What's the point? Here in Sweden everyone who's​ eligible to vote automatically gets vote cards and stuff sent home, and then on election day you just go do it.

Because Americans despair at the thought of "papers, please" which is why there doesn't seem to be any central registry or standardized ID that they could use for automatic registration.

 

[Squirrel Killer]

I get why they don't have universal voting by mail in red states, but I don't understand why more solidly blue states don't have it. It's a better system in every way.

Mail-in ballots tend to have dramatically higher spoilage rates than paper or electronic ballots, like 4+% vs 0.25-.5%.

 

[Marvie_3]

This should be done everywhere.

 

[Neoweee]

NM

 

[Zoe]

They know that from who has driver's licenses, or who has paid Illinois taxes. They also know who is or isn't a felon.

You don't have to be a citizen to have a driver's license.

And I was asking how Sweden does it, since that appears to be a golden standard.

 

[Walter White Walker]

Great, now make it nation wide...

Then change it to mail in voting and make voting mandetory.

ftfy
Although I don't agree with mandatory voting too much - I think a lot of those people won't take it seriously when marking their ballot.

 

[Particle Physicist]

How do they know who's eligible? How do they know where to send the cards to?

Things are cross referenced. Right now when you get your driver's license in Illinois you have the option to also get registered to vote. I assume the only change here is that instead of an option you have to specifically request, everyone is automatically registered (assuming they qualify)

 

[Chainsawkitten]

You don't have to be a citizen to have a driver's license.

And I was asking how Sweden does it, since that appears to be a golden standard.

From the civil registry, I'd assume. Maintained by the tax agency (though you're registered regardless of whether you've paid taxes or not).

I get what I need to vote and I don't have a driver's license.

 

[Zoe]

From the civil registry, I'd assume. Maintained by the tax agency (though you're registered regardless of whether you've paid taxes or not).

I get what I need to vote and I don't have a driver's license.

US elections are run by local jurisdictions. What you're describing sounds like it's driven by nationwide agencies.

 

[TestOfTide]

Hopefully this is Democrats practicing on a state level so that they can more easily implement it nationally when they take back power.

 

[noquarter]

Sounds good for the most part, except in special circumstances like mine.

Being military I'm still a Colorado resident, but I did have to get a Maryland license. While there I choose not to register, since I'm not a Maryland resident. Would hate to accidentally be registered to vote and have some bullshit case against me for trying to register in two states if I didn't know I had to opt out and the person behind the desk forgets to ask.

Otherwise all for this.

 

[Chainsawkitten]

US elections are run by local jurisdictions. What you're describing sounds like it's driven by nationwide agencies.

I don't know how US handling of taxes/civil register works, but I'm assuming it'd pretty much have to be nationwide for it to be as convenient/reliable as the Swedish system due to people moving between states, etc. In this case (Illinois) it's automatic registration of people getting driver's license, etc. If you want it to be even more foolproof, you'd need a civil registry, and probably at the national level. But maybe there's some other way.

 

[Mimir]

Mail-in ballots tend to have dramatically higher spoilage rates than paper or electronic ballots, like 4+% vs 0.25-.5%.

Do you have any sources for that? I can't find any statistics for spoiled ballots in Oregon, though it's obviously drastically less than 20%. The increase in voter turnout more than outweighs the increase in spoiled ballots, in any case.

 

[Vicetrailia]

Just another reason why only democrats are worth a damn.

 

[Squirrel Killer]

Do you have any sources for that? I can't find any statistics for spoiled ballots in Oregon, though it's obviously drastically less than 20%. The increase in voter turnout more than outweighs the increase in spoiled ballots, in any case.

Yep.

Yet votes cast by mail are less likely to be counted, more likely to be compromised and more likely to be contested than those cast in a voting booth, statistics show. Election officials reject almost 2 percent of ballots cast by mail, double the rate for in-person voting.

“The more people you force to vote by mail,” Mr. Sancho said, “the more invalid ballots you will generate.”

The U.S. Senate Franken-Coleman recount in Minnesota (MN), my home state, is centering on the absentee ballot spoilage rate. The spoilage rate is about 20 times higher than the machine counting spoilage rate, (0.2% according to Joe Mansky from Ramsey County Elections who uses Diebold Accuvote scanners,) and there were problems of not finding registrations in the State registration database as well as arbitrary rule application to qualify absentee ballots. As of today Nov 26, 2008 Mark Ritchie Secretary of State says there are 12,000 uncounted absentee ballots or 12/288 = 4.1%+ spoil rate.

 

[trs1080]

As I just moved here from Oregon, I wish they'd do mail ballots too. Makes it so damned easy to vote.

I live in Chicago proper and have done mail-in ballots last couple of elections. Just have to request it on their website. Outside the city though I dunno...

 

[hodayathink]

As I just moved here from Oregon, I wish they'd do mail ballots too. Makes it so damned easy to vote.

You should be able to absentee by mail, and it's not like you have to have a good reason to.

 

[Beartruck]

Rauner will definetely try to veto this. He has a Governor's race next year and is pretty unpopular.

 

[Htown]

All evidence shows that automatic registration helps boost voter turnout, but Republicans continue to disapprove of the policy because higher turnout tends to help Democrats win elections.

fuckin Republicans

 

[SolarPowered]

All states should implement this as quickly as possible imo.

 

[Izayoi]

All states should implement this as quickly as possible imo.

This and a standardized mail-in ballot system where all eligible voters are mailed their ballots a month or more before the date of the election.

Physical polling stands are disenfranchising by their very nature and should only exist to serve those who cannot vote by mail (homeless, blind, etc.)

 

[Kid Heart]

It's nice to see some really good news from my home state. Here is hoping someday this becomes enacted nationwide.