Illinois Governor Rauner Vetoes Mandatory Voter Registration Bill

Last week, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner vetoed a bill that would establish mandatory, or automatic, voter registration in Illinois:  

Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed a bill aimed at making voter registration automatic in Illinois, citing concerns about potential voting fraud and conflicts with federal law. 

The first-term Republican governor said he wanted to continue negotiations with supporters to work out those issues, but groups backing the measure accused him of playing politics with his veto and said they would seek an override. . . . 

Under the legislation, starting in January 2018 people seeking a new or updated driver's license — or other state services — would automatically be registered to vote or have their registration updated unless they opted out. Currently in Illinois, motorists seeking services at secretary of state driver's facilities are asked if they want to register to vote or update their registration — an opt-in form of voter registration.

The bill was hastily passed at the end of session, and, in addition to being an unnecessary expense to a financially distressed state, the governor found that it would open the door to fraud and violate the NVRA:

"I strongly support efforts to encourage greater voter participation in our democracy and share the goals of this legislation," Rauner said in a statement. 

"Unfortunately, as currently drafted, the bill would inadvertently open the door to voter fraud and run afoul of federal election law. We will continue working with the legislature and key stakeholders on language that meets our shared goals while complying with federal law and preventing voter fraud," he said. 

In addition, Rauner said the measure does not follow federal law, which requires a voting applicant to "attest to meeting the qualifications to vote" or to sign an application. He said the measure also relies on the Illinois State Board of Elections to then screen out individuals who are not eligible to vote, even though it may not have access to needed information.

We thank Gov. Rauner for wisely recognizing that mandatory voter registration threatens election integrity and the accuracy of voter registration rolls and does not accomplish the goal of increased voter engagement and turnout.

Clinton Reiterates Support for Unrealistic and Dangerous Election "Reforms"

While the media focused on Bernie Sanders' endorsement of Hillary Clinton yesterday, Hillary made a speech following Sen. Sanders' endorsement that contained calls for liberal election and campaign finance "reform."  This is a familiar refrain from the Democrats this year, but Hillary's speech had some new points.  The "reforms" are in line with the draft of the "most progressive platform in the history of party" released by the Democrats earlier this week.

Hillary's "Reform" - Everyone has to disclose all donors
Campaign finance reform is a subject to which liberals and Democrats criticize the current laws while exploiting loopholes in the system they claim to deride.  The campaign finance laws are already so complicated that national campaigns with full-time staff, attorneys, accountants, and compliance personnel struggle to comply.  Requiring the disclosure of additional donors would not only violate those donors' constitutional rights but also pose immense practical challenges for campaigns and non-profits.

Hillary's "Reform" - Automatic voter registration for everyone when they turn 18
Hillary's proposal goes far beyond the mandatory voter registration systems that are being implemented in several states across the country.  Those systems are dangerous enough, but Hillary's proposal goes beyond registering people who interact with the DMV to automatically registering everyone when they turn 18.  While she did not go into details, her proposal appears to be mandatory, universal voter registration, not the systems currently being implemented that at least have underused opt-out mechanisms.

Hillary's "Reform" - 20 days of in-person voting in every state
This is where Hillary's speech covered some new ground.  Universal donor disclosure and universal mandatory registration are frequently discussed by today's radically liberal Democrat leaders.  20 days of in-person early voting would be an enormous expense and procedural hassle for the states that would have to implement it, and very few states already have such a long period of early voting in place (including none of Hillary's "home" states of Arkansas, Illinois, and New York).  Early voting does not increase turnout, can actually harm voters, and increases the risk of voter fraud.

Hillary's "Reform" - No one waits more than 30 minutes to cast a ballot
Short lines at the polls are a good goal, one that was a focus of the Presidential Commission on Election Administration and for which hard-working local election officials strive, but the federal government cannot simply dictate that no person must wait more than 30 minutes to cast a ballot.  Local election officials allocate scarce resources and personnel based on expected turnout, but they can not perfectly anticipate the innumerable things that could go wrong on election day, causing people to wait a long time to vote.  Long lines at the polling place are unfortunate and all local election officials should, and do, strive to shorten them, but Hillary ignores all the considerations and efforts of those officials when she unrealistically declares that no one should wait more than 30 minutes to vote.

Losing the Freedom to Choose, One Mandatory Voter Registration Bill at a Time

Illinois is the latest state seeking to remove citizens' ability to choose to register to vote or be involved in the electoral process in general. Senate Bill 0250 seeks to automatically enroll individuals to vote when they interact with one of five state agencies. Illinois already has a voter registration process in place and the State Board of Elections is opposed to the legislation.  

Given the push from the left, this has the potential to be a disaster just like it was in Oregon. Other countries have shown mandatory voter registrations' perceived benefits to be at best negligible, and it is more than likely detrimental. Legislators should listen to the State Board of Elections, which will have to implement the fabricated solution to a non-existent problem. 

Election board officials said their concern is logistics, pointing out that there’s no program set up for the initial September update. 

“It would take major changes to the system and structure of our system to try and implement these things,” said Kyle Thomas, the board’s director of voting and registration systems. 

Thomas also questioned the possible “millions” it could cost as the budget standoff between legislative Democrats and Rauner approaches a year.

Don Gray, Sangamon County Clerk, commented on the concerns.

"I understand the concerns there's a lot more burden on the state board of elections then there is here and the election authority to be able to implement Election Day and registration day maintenance," said Gray.

The board would have to go through a year’s worth of voter information to update their records.

The articles remain silent on something that has become a far more concerning trend from the left: Forcing citizens to register to vote. Freedom to choose is not something that we should take for granted. The role the government plays in our lives should not be one that forces us to participate, even if the measure provides the option to opt out rather than opt in. The solution to lack of voter engagement is not forced involvement. Rarely is forced action effective and often it has the opposite of the intended effect.

A Bigger Role for DMV with Voting Will Only Disenfranchise More People

Automatic voter registration is being discussed in a number of states right now as a solution to election administration problems.  It is a recipe for disaster.  Fortunately two recent op-eds highlight some of the problems.  First, from a non-partisan perspective, Joanne Young focuses on problems with the Department of Motor Vehicles in a recent article entitled “The DMV has a Terrible Track Record of Handling Voter Registration”:

Whether through DMV errors or the organization of an automatic voter registration system, the risk of voter disenfranchisement in closed primaries is substantial. Given that there is no proof that automatic voter registration helps increase voter participation (voter participation actually went down when Canada adopted it), states should focus on fixing the existing system that is supposed to help voters register and update their registrations, instead of rushing into automatic voter registration.

Unlike acquiring an identification card or driver’s license from the DMV, a process that everyone understands, it is much harder to explain needing to register twice: once automatically and once with a party.

J. Christian Adams lays out the case for the more insidious reasons for the left’s support of automatic voter registration in a more politically charged op-ed entitled “Democrats and the New Jim Crow”:

This is the perfect scenario for the disenfranchisement of ordinary Walmart Democrat voters in favor of leftists and the Democratic Party elite. Only insiders and people who understand the system will be able to vote in the primaries. It’s too late if you learn this on election day.

The leftists love mandatory voter registration for another reason. While more mainstream Democrats are disenfranchised in the primaries, it is a different story in November. Republicans, Green Party members, Libertarians, and independents are disenfranchised in the general election when legal votes are cancelled by the lawless voting.

Regardless of your political background, all should agree that automatic voter registration and an increased role for the DMV in voter registration are not solutions to election administration problems.

Part 2: Is Automatic Voter Registration for Potential Fraud Not Turnout?

Over the New Years break, we got in a twitter debate over automatic registration.  As always some on the left argue for automatic registration.  They say this is for increased turnout.  The problem with this is there is no evidence that turnout is increased.  For example, Canada actually saw a downturn in voter turnout when it went to automatic registration. 

However there are some negative things that can happen with automatic registration such as increased costs and vote fraud.  This is because automatic registration guarantees clogged and inaccurate voter rolls.  Accurate voter rolls were a priority to President Obama’s bipartisan Presidential Commission on Election Administration (PCEA) when it stated (emphasis added):

Improving the accuracy of registration rolls, for example, can expand access, reduce administrative costs, prevent fraud and irregularity, and reduce polling place congestion leading to long lines.

Automatic registration has no benefits but many minuses.  One of those minuses is it would make vote fraud easier.  As the PCEA said, accurate voting rolls help prevent fraud.   Adding people who have no interest in elections or intention to vote (in some cases because they don’t intend to stay long in the area or are voting elsewhere) to voting rolls certainly presents the opportunity for fraud.  

Is Automatic Voter Registration for Potential Fraud Not Turnout?

In 2016, the Maryland legislature will consider the disastrous system of automatic voter registration. 

Maryland Democrats plan to propose legislation next year that would automatically place eligible residents on state voter rolls, . . .  the speaker is “very supportive” of automatic registration, and an aide to Miller said the senator thinks lawmakers should seriously consider any measures that increase the number of eligible voters who are registered.

Note Democrat Senate President Mike Miller is NOT arguing that it will increase voting.  It will increase the opportunity for fraud. 

Joe Cluster, executive director of the Maryland Republican Party, said automatic registration would make elections more vulnerable to fraud by signing up people who do not plan to vote or are not motivated to do so.

Knowing someone will not vote makes it easy to fraudulent “vote” them.  As the words of Miller’s aides confirms this is not about increasing turnout but rather as Cluster says an opportunity to increase fraud. 

  

Chris Christie Vetoes Automatic Voter Registration Bill

California and Oregon both passed mandatory voter registration laws this year and, if Democrats have their way, they are only the first of many. A Democratic group called iVote which is led by Jeremy Bird, a top Obama campaign aide, plans to spend millions of dollars in an effort to push mandatory voter registration laws.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie recently vetoed a mandatory voter registration effort by Democrats in the state.  Regarding the veto, Governor Christie said: "New Jersey taxpayers deserve better than to have their hard-earned tax dollars spent on thinly-veiled political gamesmanship and the State must ensure that every eligible citizen's vote counts and is not stolen by fraud."

As the Heritage Foundation points out, mandatory registration is nothing but a "'solution in search of a problem," and, as Governor Christie said, increases the potential for fraud. Mandatory registration is unlikely to help increase voter turnout because it is a lack of interest that keeps most voters from registering. In fact, the Census Bureau reports that only 4% of individuals claimed that they had not registered to vote  because they didn't "know where or how to register." Mandatory registration may not solve any problems, but it certainly has the potential to create one. These policies often involve permanent registration which has the potential to increase fraud because ineligible voters, voters who have moved, and the deceased would be more difficult to remove from the voter rolls.

Congratulations Governor Christie, and thank you for taking a stand and maintaining the integrity of the electoral system.