Which States Register Voters When Getting Driver License

Automated voter registration (AVR) is a process in which eligible individuals are automatically registered to vote when interacting with sure government agencies, such as a department of motor vehicles. Information gathered from the regime agency is transmitted to election officials who use it to either create a new voter tape or update an existing registration. This process is triggered by interaction with a participating government agency, but it is not compulsory. Individuals may opt out of registration at the agency or later by returning a mailer, depending on the state.

Every bit of January 2022, 22 states and Washington, D.C., are categorized by NCSL equally having enacted or implemented automated voter registration.

How AVR Works

In 1993, Congress passed theNational Voter Registration Human action (NVRA). The NVRA pioneered a new way to register to vote in America: It required most states to provide citizens with an opportunity to register to vote when applying for or renewing a driver'south license at a section of motor vehicles (DMV) or other designated country agencies. Because of the requirement for DMVs to participate in voter registration, the NVRA is often referred to as "motor voter."

Some states utilise the same automated processes to other land-designated agencies covered nether NVRA. UnderSection 7 of the NVRA, whatever country office that provides public assistance or operates state-funded programs that serve individuals with disabilities must offering opportunities to register to vote. The law also requires states to designate boosted offices providing voter registration services.

Since the passage of the NVRA, the drove of voter information has shifted from newspaper-based forms to digital records, with many state DMV systems linking electronically to statewide voter registration databases. This allows the DMV to non simply collect information on eligible voters only likewise electronically transfer that information to the voter registration database. Electronic data transfers are more accurate and less resource intensive.

In January 2016, Oregon became the first state to implement AVR. In what is sometimes referred to as the "Oregon model," an eligible voter who interacts with the DMV is not asked whether they would like to register to vote, just instead is automatically opted into registering. The voter is presently sent a notification informing them they were registered and that they can opt out by returning the notification.

Other states which have adopted AVR have chosen different approaches, characterized by the point at which a voter may opt out of being registered to vote. The majority of AVR states use 1 of two approaches:

Front end-finish opt out: With this approach, the customer at the DMV may choose to register to vote or decline to register at the point of service. The DMV will show an electronic screen asking whether they would like to register to vote. If they decline, the voter is not registered. If they assert, in states where voters have the choice of affiliating with a political party, the next screen will ask if they would similar to do and so.
Dorsum-stop opt out: Customers during their agency transaction provide information needed to register to vote. After the transaction occurs, the customer is notified by the bureau via a post-transaction mailer that they will exist registered to vote, unless they respond to the notification and decline. If the customer takes no action, they will be registered to vote. In this approach, registration information is automatically transferred, and customers may choose to reject or affiliate after receiving the post-transaction mailer.

See the table beneath for details on enactment dates, enabling legislation, participating state agencies and opt out method.

Table 2: States that have enacted automatic voter registration*
State	Year Enacted	Nib Number	Yr Implemented	Participating Agencies	Type of Opt-Out
Alaska	2016	Measure i	2017	Permanent Fund Dividend	Back-end (post-transaction mailer)
California	2015	AB 1461	2018	DMV	Forepart-end (indicate-of-service)
Colorado	n/a	Washed through Department of Motor Vehicles system	2017	DMV, Section of Health, and other agencies designated by the secretary of state	Back-stop (post-transaction mailer)
Connecticut	2016	Agreement between Secretarial assistant of State and Section of Motor Vehicles	2016	DMV	Front-finish (point-of-service)
Delaware	2021	SB v	Statutory deadline of 2023	DMV, Department of Health and Social Services, Department of Labor, any state bureau selected by its main administrator to provide voter registration services for its employees and the public	Back-end (post-transaction mailer)
Commune of Columbia	2016	B21-0194	2018	DMV	Front-end (point-of-service)
Georgia	2016	Done through Department of Driver Services and Attorney Full general's function	2016	DMV	Front end-cease (point-of-service)
Hawaii	2021	SB 159	2021	DMV	Front-finish (point-of-service)
Illinois	2017	SB 1933	2018	DMV and other agencies designated by the State Board of Elections	Forepart-end (betoken-of-service)
Maine	2019	HB 1070	Predictable 2022	DMV and other designated "source agencies"	Front-end (signal-of-service)
Maryland	2018	SB 1048	2019	DMV, health do good exchange, local departments of social services and the Mobility Certification Office	Front-stop (betoken-of-service)
Massachusetts	2018	HB 4834	2020	DMV, partition of medical assistance, wellness insurance connector authority, other agencies verified by the secretary of land that collect "reliable citizenship information"	Dorsum-end (post-transaction mailer)
Michigan	2018	Ballot Proposal three	2019	DMV	Front-stop (point-of-service)
New Jersey	2018	AB 2014	2018	DMV and other country agencies designated by the secretary of state	Front-end (point-of-service)
New Mexico	2019	SB 672	2020	DMV	Front-end (point-of-service)
New York	2020	SB 8806	Predictable 2023	DMV, DOH, DOL and boosted agencies	Front-end (betoken-of-service)
Nevada	2018	Ballot Question Number 5 AB 345 AB 432	2020**	DMV (in 2020) Section of Wellness and Human Services, agencies designated by the Department of Health and Homo Services to receive applications for Medicaid, the Silver State Health Insurance Exchange and any other state agency or tribal agency that meets sure requirements and is canonical past the Governor (past 2024)	Front-stop (point-of-service)
Oregon	2015	HB 2177	2016	DMV	Back-end (postal service-transaction mailer)
Rhode Island	2017	HB 5702	2018	DMV and other land agencies designated by the secretary of state	Front-cease (bespeak-of-service)
Vermont	2016	HB 458	2017	DMV and other state agencies designated by the secretary of country	Front-end (indicate-of-service)
Virginia	2020	HB 235	Anticipated 2020	DMV	Front-terminate (indicate-of-service)
Washington	2018	HB 2595	2019	DMV, health do good exchange, other country agencies approved by the secretary of country	Front-end (point-of-service)
West Virginia	2016	HB 4013	Implementation deadline 2021	DMV	Front-end (point-of-service)

*In some states, NCSL uses its ain approach for categorization. If a legislature enacts a pecker with the words "automatic" or "automated" in it to describe a paperless system for registering voters at DMVs or other state agencies, we include them on this page. Likewise, if, through existing authority and authoritative action a state moves toward either of the two categories, nosotros include them. Final, if we hear from a representative of the land'due south master ballot official (often the secretarial assistant of state) that their system qualifies equally automatic or automated, we add together them, likewise.

**Nevada's AVR system consists of ii phases. The kickoff phase established AVR through the DMV and was implemented on Jan. 1, 2020, after voters approved Election Question Number 5 in 2018 and the legislature enacted enabling legislation, AB 345, in 2019. The 2nd phase, created by AB 432 in 2021, expands AVR to country agencies beyond the DMV. The implementation deadline for stage ii is Jan. 1, 2024.

What Are the Benefits of Automatic Voter Registration?

Proponents of automated voter registration say the policy will remove barriers to registration for eligible voters, the outset step on the mode to increasing voter participation. By registering through a routine and necessary transaction such equally those at the DMV, voters won't have to worry about registration deadlines or application submissions.

Automatic registration can help with voter registration list maintenance because the process updates existing registrations with current addresses. Make clean voter rolls form a stiff ground for authentic elections, with the added benefit of reducing the use of costly provisional ballots, which are a neglect-safe voting pick when there is a discrepancy in a voter's registration status. Some supporters as well say automatic voter registration leads to college voter turnout, although bear witness supporting this merits is mixed.

What Are the Disadvantages of Automatic Voter Registration?

Opponents of automatic voter registration may say that the regime should not tell citizens they must register to vote, specially in states that provide the "opt-out" option by mail, after the fact. Furthermore, they question whether opt-out forms that are sent and received through the postal service are sufficient to ensure an individual can reject to register.

Boosted Resources

State Election Legislation Database, NCSL
Automatic Voter Registration at Motor Vehicle Agencies, Heart for Tech and Borough Life
Voter Registration, MIT Election Information and Science Lab
Measuring Motor Voter , The Pew Charitable Trusts