Case Study 1: Component 4

How does America measure up with the rest of the world in terms of efforts to make election processes simple and available to the largest number of citizens?

A report from FairVote Research, a non-partisan group that investigates voting, explains that the United States is one of the only democracies around the world that does not control the registration of eligible voters. This is because the rights of individual states to monitor election practices from within has long been a highly valued right in our country. Around the world, however, the more common practice is that citizens are automatically registered to vote upon reaching their country’s eligible voting age (Microsoft Word - Universal Voter Registration-4-21-09.doc).

Components of Voter Registration

The Brennan Center for Justice (part of the NYU School of Law) considers four important parts of basic voter registration systems.

1. Adding voters to the rolls
2. Updating existing voter records
3. Identifying gaps and correcting inaccuracies in the voter rolls
4. Protecting the privacy of voters' information

Adding Voters to the Rolls: A sampling of countries around that world who are proactive in registering voters include:

• Systems that automatically register young people once they become of eligible voting age; example: all French citizens who turn 18 years of age are required to attend a one-day national defense session, during which time their names are record and enrolled as voters
• Using data from other government systems; example: at age 16, Argentine citizens must obtain a national ID card; their information is recorded, and they are automatically enrolled as voters
• Using information in databases known as civil registries; example: in Germany, local “household registries” are taken to keep track of things like municipal taxes owed; once registered, the names of citizens are then provided to larger civil registries for voter enrollment
• Generating direct mailing of voter registration information to the public; example: in 2003 in Indonesia, a register of citizens collected door-to-door was uploaded into a database, automatically enrolling people as voters.

Updating Existing Voter Records: The use of systems that are automatic and cross-reference other types of citizen data management can ensure that names and addresses are correct across systems and can help reduce voter fraud by removing the names of deceased voters from the election rolls.

Identifying Gaps and Correcting Inaccuracies in the Voter Rolls: Some methods that countries around the world use to ensure that their voter registration rolls are accurate include publishing voter lists so that citizens can self-monitor their registration and performing outreach in remote areas to help make corrections. 

Many who look at voter registration around the world criticize the US’s decentralized system, which puts the burden of the process onto the voter, as one which makes reform complicated and undermines participation. This map, made available from The Electoral Knowledge Network, illustrates how voter registration authority is dispersed around the globe:

A study from the Institute for Responsive Government considered three of the world’s most progressive and proactive voter registration systems:

Germany, which relies nearly exclusively on civil registries held with local authorities to enroll voters, has significantly reduced the extra work required by voters because citizens are already obligated to register their residency for other types of government-sanctioned activities. German election officials are also pro-active in ensuring voter rolls are accurate and complete. At least twenty-one days prior to any election, voters are given notice of their status with the election system – they can check their polling place, voter registration number, and other details, to make sure they are ready to vote.

Australia has a voter registration rate of 97.8 percent! This is in part due to their highly centralized method – voting is overseen by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), which has been in control of the country’s election processes since 1918. Like Germany, Australia utilizes civil records such as Drivers’ Licenses, Tax Records, and others, to build their voter rolls. Young people are offered the option to “pre-enroll,” to ensure that they will automatically be on voter rolls by their eighteenth birthday. Another important distinction for Australia is their focus on reaching indigenous populations, in an effort to ensure that all Australians are proactively protected and registered to vote. Voting is also compulsory in Australia (Comparative Voter Registration: Lessons from Abroad for Improving Access and Accuracy in the United States - Institute for Responsive Government).

Canada, like Germany and Australia, has centralized oversight with its “Elections Canada” agency. This system has a built-in collection method which brings in citizen data from forty other government agencies. This system puts existing data to work to ensure that Canadians are registered to vote, which has resulted in a 95% registration rate for eligible voters.

The biggest takeaway is that centralized systems tend to be the common denominator in successful global voter registration systems. In a highly mobile United States, which values the independence of its individual state authority, moving towards a more comprehensive, centralized federal system that shares data is a complicated question, but one which deserves additional scrutiny.

Reform initiatives in the US

Automatic Voter Registration. As of 2024, there were 37 states utilizing systems of automatic registration – with most of those systems requiring a specific “deselection” if a person does not want to register to vote. One of the most common of these systems is the utilization of state Department of Motor Vehicle transactions as an opportunity to register to vote. Online voting systems, which combines digital registration with later in-person proof of identity, have met with pushback in several states (Comparative Voter Registration: Lessons from Abroad for Improving Access and Accuracy in the United States - Institute for Responsive Government). 

Students should be asked to consider these issues:

1. First – why should election integrity matter to them?

   Students might consider the ways that elections shape public policy and, if elections are not reflective of the body of people served, policies may be implemented which benefit the few, but do not provide the best use of public tax funds.

   The Electoral Knowledge Network proposes that these are the elements of electoral integrity that best ensure protection for all eligible voters:

   “Under the principles of electoral democracy, all citizens have equal rights to:
   • participate as voters and candidates;
   • all citizens must have equal voting power;
   • the secrecy of the vote must be assured;
   • voters must have meaningful access to electoral and campaign information;
   • election administration must be conducted in a fair and non-partisan manner;
   • elections must be held regularly;
   • the results of elections must be decided by the freely cast votes of the citizenry.”

2. Secondly – are there reasons why same-day voter registration could pose a threat to election integrity?

   Students should be asked to weigh in on implied threats to election integrity that have been suggested by the America First Policy Initiative. These include the concern that election officials do not have time and resources to ensure voter eligibility, which could lead to the casting of fraudulent votes.

   After students have considered the concept of same-day voter registration and threats to electoral integrity, an in-class exercise could be held to gauge how common arguments for and against same-day voter registration land with informed students.

   Armed with two faces – students will indicate how these arguments rank with them and will be prepared to answer questions about why they responded favorably or unfavorably.

   • Same-day registration increases voter turnout
   • Same-day voter registration combats voter suppression
   • Same-day voter registration brings out increased numbers of young voters
   • Same-day voter registration increases the chance for fraudulent ballots
   • Same-day voter registration is too costly
   • Same-day voter registration causes chaos at polling places

   

   Click on the file to download larger resolution for printing. Original file found at  Emotion Vectors by Vecteezy