Texas is already the hardest state to vote in, and the pandemic only made it harder. Now, Gov. Abbott is trying to pass new laws that would only make it more difficult to vote.
Registering to vote should be easy, accurate and automatic.
Every American has the fundamental right to vote, and have that vote counted. And in a day and age when we can use computers and smartphones to do everything from paying our utility bills to reading the day's headlines, there is no reason registering to vote shouldn’t be easy, accurate and automatic. But advances in technology have not made it into most of our election systems, and Texas is still using pen and paper to register the vast majority of it’s voters.
Our outdated, inaccurate systems often create real barriers to voter registration. An estimated 1 in 8 national voter records is either invalid or has serious issues, many due to human errors from processing paper applications. And it’s estimated that, in 2012, more than 1 million eligible voters were turned away at the polls because of registration issues.
We can do better.
We’ve figured out how to let people pay their taxes using 21st-century tools. Shouldn’t we be able to do the same with our voting systems? We’re working to modernize the vote by starting at the point of entry—registration—and making sure more Americans are registered to vote automatically.
Our idea is simple — anytime you interact with the Texas Department of Public Safety your voter registration is updated electronically and automatically.
Illinois PIRG State Director Abe Scarr announces the passage of an automatic voter registration bill in 2017.
Office of the Cook County Clerk
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