California may be the next state to automate voter eligibility at the DMV

The legislation seeks to register approximately five million eligible unregistered voters in California.

The California legislature is considering a bill that would provide a path to 100% voter registration by expanding the state’s Motor Voter Program so that it automatically signs up people who are eligible but unregistered to vote at the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Introduced by Senators Caroline Menjivar and Monique Limón, the legislation (SB846) seeks to sign up approximately five million more voters. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, 21.9 million of California’s 26.9 million eligible adults were registered as of May 2022. Registered voters, according to the PPIC’s report, tend to be whiter, older and more affluent than the larger pool of people who are eligible to vote.

Though the longshot bill is being held in what is known as a “suspense file,” and isn’t going to approved this year, it could be passed before next year’s elections. The Senate appropriations committee designated it as a two-year bill, meaning it has a chance at survival if passed by January 31, 2024. Similar legislation introduced by Sen. Josh Newman in 2021 passed the Senate but died in the Assembly.

The bill also has strong support from groups hoping to boost turnout among newer voters.

Last week, community leaders, advocates, and organizers representing labor, faith-based, Black, Asian, Latino, women and youth organizations rallied for the legislation at the state Capitol. Some of those supporters — part of the California Grassroots Democracy Coalition, which is comprised of over 100 organizations — said they hope the law will “expand the electorate to better reflect the state’s diversity.”

One community leader argued that the U.S. is an outlier in voting rules by putting the onus of voter registration on the individual.

“Most advanced democracies put the burden on the government to make sure eligible individuals are registered to vote,” said Amy Hamblin, an advisor for NextGen Policy. “There’s no reason that voter registration should be an impediment to someone exercising their constitutional right to vote.”

Another said that even though California has made progress in making elections accessible to more people, some groups of potential voters have fallen through the cracks.

“Those who are most impacted are folks who were formerly incarcerated and are unsure if they’re eligible, folks who are non-English speakers or low English proficient, those who are low-income and people who were recently naturalized and still trying to recognize what it means for them to be able to actually register to vote,” said Jonathan Paik, executive director of progressive community organization OC Action.

California has been registering voters at the DMV for several years. Passed in 2015 and implemented in 2018, the California Motor Voter Program automatically registers eligible Californians who are completing a driver’s license, state identification or change of address transaction, unless they choose to opt-out. The program has become the top method for first-time voters to register to vote according to a USC study.

Although the current version of the Motor Voter Program has been successful in registering millions of voters, it is what is known as a “front-end, opt-out system” and, as such, Paik and others believe it is a barrier to newly minted citizens and others who are eligible but unregistered for voting.

In the current program, the first question asked is about citizenship. Depending on how a would-be voter answers, they’re either allowed to continue with voter registration or they’re diverted to a different track of questions.

The proposed program, known as a “back-end, opt out” system, automatically signs up anyone conducting a transaction with the DMV to be a registered voter, but it screens out non-citizens and others who are ineligible based on paperwork on file with the state. After their visit to the DMV, eligible voters get a notice in the mail that let’s them opt out of voting if that’s their choice.

If a non-citizen votes in an election in which citizenship is required they can face legal consequences, including possible deportation.

Several other states, including Alaska, Colorado, Massachusetts, Oregon and Washington, have passed legislation that automatically registers most eligible voters at their DMVs.

According to the Center for American Progress, Oregon’s back-end, opt-out system has meant more than 90% of eligible adults dealing with that state’s DMV have been registered to vote. In California, which uses the front-end model, only about 60% of eligible adults have been registered.

Luis Aleman, a spokesman for the Orange County Voter Information Project — a group that hopes to boost local voter participation — said he believes if California can set the example and make the program work in a state of over 38 million people, the program could work at a national level.

“By allowing folks to automatically register, it removes a barrier from entry,” he said.

“It’s important for new generations of voters to start off on the right foot.”

While Aleman said the bill faces an uphill battle, he believes continuing to raise awareness will eventually move it out of the suspense file.

“We’re going to continue to bring it forward, shed light and keep the momentum going,” he said.