Sioux Falls Activists Propose Automatic Voter Registration Initiative
South Dakota Community Action, a Sioux Falls group led by Paul Thronson and Nick Zachariasen, has submitted and received LRC review of a sixth draft initiative, this one proposing automatic voter registration for every eligible adult in South Dakota.
Very simply, SDCA’s initiative would have any state or county government entity that gets a resident’s address “process a voter registration on that person’s behalf.” The initiative would also automatically register high school graduates. The person in question would be given a chance to pick a party; if the person expresses no preference, the registration is marked independent. The initiative would allow residents to decline registration.
LRC suggests editing the draft to specify that the school or government agency shall submit the registration to the county auditor unless the resident asks to submit it herself.
The Brennan Center for Justice notes that sixteen states and the District of Columbia automatically register voters. As I have noted previously, automatic voter registration makes voter registration “more accurate, efficient, and cost-effective” and appears to increase voter participation.
Read more: http://dakotafreepress.com/2019/07/10/sioux-falls-activists-propose-automatic-voter-registration-initiative/