When conducting routine governmental transactions, such as getting a driver’s license or updating your car registration, Texas is required by federal law to offer the chance to register to vote. However, Texas has failed to properly follow this law. Failing to comply with voter laws, all leads to one result: voter disenfranchisement.
“I just signed up for it when I got my driver’s license,” Mario Pantoja, long-time resident of southeast Austin, recalls his first time registering to vote by opting-in while getting his license. “It’s not made obvious to minorities in rural areas,” he says of the often overlooked opt-in option for voter registration. Many residents in underrepresented and rural parts of Texas rely on voter outreach programs to get registered and be eligible to vote.
“Many people aren’t aware that they aren’t registered to vote until it’s too late.”
The opt-in option isn’t made known to those completing routine forms. People are significantly less likely to opt-in to a policy they know nothing about.
With many young people needing to get registered, Texas fails every time a new eligible voter leaves a state agency or office without getting registered. There are so many opportunities for the state to be helping new voters get registered accurately: high school and college students getting their first driver’s license, changing addresses to a new dorm address, or updating their license once they turn 21.
“It would be beneficial for Texas to go with an automatic route when it comes to registering people because many aren’t aware that they aren’t registered to vote until it’s too late,” Pantoja says.
By changing the opt-in policy to automatic registration when completing any routine governmental transactions, registration rates will increase because of its efficiency and ease of access to the voter. Texas can increase the accuracy of our voter rolls and voter data all at once. Automatic Voter Registration ensures that eligible citizens can conveniently register to vote and keep their registration accurate and up-to-date.
