When you examine your ballot for the November 4 election, one of the decisions you will be asked to make is whether to vote for or against repealing current law which allows citizens to both register and vote on the day of the election. The law permitting this has been in effect for about a decade. As you decide how to vote on LR 126, which proposes to eliminate this option, it is worth considering exactly how it currently works and who would be impacted by its elimination
I have worked as an election judge at Corvallis polling places for more than 35 years and have more particularly served there as a registrar helping voters with their registration problems. This experience has given me an on-the-ground perspective on the issue of same day registration. I would like to share my experience with you.
Each election day there are a certain number of voters who arrive at the polls and discover that for some reason they are not on the list of voters at what they presume is their precinct. Sometimes their problem is easily solved by checking the master list for the county as a whole and directing them to the proper precinct, often located within the same polling place. Sometimes a call to the central database at the courthouse can verify that the voter did, in fact, register to vote, but that some clerical glitch caused them to be omitted from the precinct poll book. By recording the voter on a special form, they can be allowed to vote.
But sometimes the problem is not so easily solved. One common scenario is that of a new voter, who believes they were properly registered when they filled out a voter registration card in a high school senior civics class or with a local civic group that was helping to register voters. However, for some reason those cards never made it to the courthouse and a call to the county courthouse determines that the hopeful voter is not registered in any precinct in the county. This voter cannot be allowed to vote at the polling place, but can be advised that he or she can to go to the courthouse and register and cast a ballot there. Passage of LR 126 would eliminate this option and the voter would have to be told that they cannot vote until the next election in two years.
An even more common scenario, is that of a voter who is, in fact, properly registered, but is determined to be registered in another precinct in another part of the valley where they resided two years ago the last time there was an election. Like many of us, they are unaware that when they move within the county, they must update their address with the courthouse in order to be able to vote where they now live. Sometimes this is not a problem if the distance to their old voting place is short and their schedule permits them to go there. However, it is not uncommon for a voter to tell me in distress that they don’t have time to drive to Florence or Stevensville or Darby because they are on their way to work or have some other obligation that prevents them from traveling to their former polling place. These voters can now be told that, if they are willing to go to the courthouse in Hamilton, they can reregister and cast a ballot there. If LR 126 passes, these voters also would be told they are out of luck until the next election.
There are many, many safeguards built into the voting system to ensure that voters only vote once and only vote in a place where they are properly registered. The ability to register and vote at the courthouse (and only at the courthouse) on election day is an option that helps to ensure that the safeguards do not become roadblocks to a citizen’s right to vote. The people who avail themselves of this option are our friends and neighbors and might, under some circumstances, be ourselves. As a poll worker I am glad to be able present this option to would-be voters, rather than having to tell them to come back again in two years to try to exercise their franchise. I hope you will consider these voters as you cast your ballot this fall.
Tonia Bloom
Hamilton