[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 158 (Wednesday, October 28, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10859-S10861]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. FEINGOLD (for himself, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Tester, Mr. 
        Harkin, and Mr. Kerry):
  S. 1986. A bill to amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require 
States to provide for same day registration; to the Committee on Rules 
and Administration.
  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, today I will reintroduce, along with 
Senators Klobuchar, Tester, Harkin and Kerry, the Same Day Registration 
Act of 2009, a bill that would significantly increase voter 
participation by allowing all eligible citizens to register to vote in 
federal elections on Election Day or the same day that they vote.
  In many ways, the machinery of our democracy needs significant 
repair. We live in an age of low turnout and high cynicism. The 
American people have lost faith in our election system, in part because 
they are not confident that their votes will be counted or that the 
ballot box is accessible to each and every voter regardless of ability, 
race, or means.
  What we see instead are long lines at polling places; faulty voting 
machines; under-trained, under-paid, over-worked poll workers; partisan 
election administrators; suspect vote tallies; caging lists; 
intimidation at the polling place; misleading flyers; illegal voter-
file purges; and now, the Supreme Court approving discriminatory voter 
ID laws. If people cannot trust their elections, why should they trust 
their elected officials?
  Three years ago, Professor Dan Tokaji, a leading election law expert, 
called for a ``moneyball approach to election reform.'' Named after 
Michael Lewis' book about the Oakland A's data-driven hiring system, 
Tokaji's approach is quintessentially progressive, as that term was 
understood at the turn of the century. ``I mean to suggest a research-
driven inquiry,'' Tokaji wrote, ``in place of the anecdotal approach 
that has too often dominated election reform conversations. While 
anecdotes and intuition have their place, they're no substitute for 
hard data and rigorous analysis.''
  This bill embodies the moneyball approach to election reform. In 
stark contrast to many so-called election reform proposals, this bill 
addresses a real problem--low voter turnout; it targets a major cause 
of the problem--archaic registration laws; and it offers a proven 
solution--same day registration SDR sometimes known as Election Day 
registration, EDR.
  The bill is very simple: it amends the Help America Vote Act to 
require every state to allow eligible citizens to register and vote in 
a Federal election on the day of the election, or on any day where 
voting is permitted, like during early voting. Voters may register 
using any form that satisfies the requirements of the National Voter 
Registration Act, including the Federal mail in voter registration form 
and any state's standard registration form. North Dakota, which does 
not have voter registration, is exempted from the bill's requirements.
  The bill itself is simple, but it addresses a significant problem: 
the low voter turnout that has plagued this country for the last 40 
years. We live in a participatory democracy, where our government 
derives its power from the consent of the governed, a consent embodied 
in the people's exercise of their fundamental right to vote. It is self 
evident that a participatory democracy depends on participation.
  This may be a government of the people, Mr. President, but the people 
are

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not voting. Since 1968, American political participation has hovered 
around 50 percent for Presidential elections and 40 percent for 
congressional elections. Even in 2008, a record-breaking year, national 
turnout was only 61.7 percent of the voting age population. The U.S. 
may be the only established democracy in the world where the fact that 
nearly 40 percent of the electorate stayed home is considered cause for 
celebration.
  In fact, our predecessors in the Senate would be surprised to find us 
celebrating such low turnout: a 1974 report by the Senate Committee on 
the Post Office and Civil Service bemoaned the ``shocking'' drop in 
turnout in the 1972 election. And what was the number that so troubled 
the Committee? Fifty-five percent.
  The report went on: ``[i]t is the Committee's conviction that our 
disquieting record of voter participation is in large part due to the 
hodgepodge of registration barriers put in the way of the voter. Such 
obstacles have little, if anything, to recommend them. At best, current 
registration laws in the various states are outmoded and simply 
inappropriate for a highly mobile population. At worst, registration 
laws can be construed as a deliberate effort to disenfranchise voters 
who desperately need entry into the decision-making processes of our 
country.''
  What a shame, that the Committee's findings are still valid. Our 
archaic registration laws have been reformed, but they are still 
archaic. We have passed a number of important bills designed to combat 
low turnout, but turnout is still low. America is even more mobile than 
it was in 1974, and yet our registration laws are still out of touch 
with the reality that more than 40 million Americans move every year. 
Worst of all, our registration laws still fall especially hard on the 
young, the old, and the poor.
  We have long known that complicated voter registration requirements 
constitute one of the major barriers to voting. In fact, many states 
adopted voter registration in order to prevent certain segments of the 
population from voting. Alexander Keyssar, the preeminent scholar on 
the history right to vote in this country, writes that although 
``[r]egistration laws emerged in the nineteenth century as a means of 
keeping track of voters and preventing fraud; they also served--and 
were intended to serve--as a means of keeping African-American, 
working-class, immigrant, and poor voters from the polls.''
  It is time for a fundamental change. A large body of research tells 
us that unnecessarily burdensome voter registration requirements are 
the single largest factor in preventing people from voting. Simply put, 
voter registration restrictions should not keep eligible Americans from 
exercising their right to vote. The solution to this problem is same 
day registration.
  Decades of empirical research confirm same day registration's 
positive impact on turnout. As one academic paper states, ``the 
evidence on whether EDR augments the electorate is remarkably clear and 
consistent. Studies finding positive and significant turnout impacts 
are too numerous to list.'' Mr. President, studies indicate that same 
day registration alone increases turnout by roughly 5 to 10 percentage 
points.
  In general, States with same day registration boast voter turnout 
that is 10-12 percentage points higher than States that require voters 
to register before Election Day. Turnout in Minnesota and Wisconsin, 
which implemented same day registration over 35 years ago has been 
especially high: in 2004, for example, when national turnout was just 
55 percent, 78 percent of eligible Minnesotans and 75 percent of 
eligible Wisconsinites went to the polls. The last time national voter 
turnout was above 70 percent, it was 1896, there were only 45 States, 
and the gold standard was the dominant campaign issue.
  Critics might worry about the possibility of fraud, but same day 
registration actually makes the registration process more secure. 
Voters registering when they vote do so in the presence of an elections 
official who verifies the voter's residency and identity on the spot. 
Mark Ritchie, Minnesota's Secretary of State, points out that same day 
registration ``is much more secure because you have the person right in 
front of you--not a postcard in the mail. That is a no-brainer. We have 
33 years of experience with this.''
  In contrast to most election reforms, the cost of same day 
registration is negligible. A recent survey of 26 local elections 
officials in six same day registration States found that ``officials 
agreed that incidental expense of administering EDR is minimal.'' In 
fact, same day registration may actually result in a net savings 
because it significantly reduces the use of provisional ballots. 
Provisional ballots, which are required by the Help America Vote Act, 
are expensive to administer. The Congressional Budget Office estimates 
that provisional ballots cost State and local governments about $25 
million a year.
  In some States the number of provisional ballots cast is surprisingly 
large. For example, in 2004, more than 4 percent of California's 
registered voters cast provisional ballots--that is 644,642 provisional 
ballots. In Ohio, 157,714 provisional ballots were cast, about 2 
percent of all registered voters.
  In contrast, in 2004 only 0.03 percent of voters in SDR states cast a 
provisional ballot. In Wisconsin, only 374 provisional ballots were 
cast. In Maine, only 95 provisional ballots were cast. In fact, only 
952 provisional ballots were cast in all the SDR states combined in 
2004. To be sure, this bill is no cure-all: it does not address long 
lines, deceptive flyers, and faulty voting machines. Other bills, good 
bills, address those issues.
  The bottom line is this: the Same Day Registration Act would 
substantially increase civic participation, improve the integrity of 
the electoral process, reduce election administration costs, and 
reaffirm that voting is a fundamental right. It has been proven 
effective by more than 30 years of successful implementation in 
Minnesota and Wisconsin and decades of empirical research. Same day 
registration is good for voters, good for taxpayers, and good for 
democracy.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 1986

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Same Day Registration Act''.

     SEC. 2. SAME DAY REGISTRATION.

       (a) In General.--Title III of the Help America Vote Act of 
     2002 (42 U.S.C. 15481 et seq.) is amended--
       (1) by redesignating sections 304 and 305 as sections 305 
     and 306, respectively; and
       (2) by inserting after section 303 the following new 
     section:

     ``SEC. 304. SAME DAY REGISTRATION.

       ``(a) In General.--
       ``(1) Registration.--Notwithstanding section 8(a)(1)(D) of 
     the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 
     1973gg-6), each State shall permit any eligible individual on 
     the day of a Federal election and on any day when voting, 
     including early voting, is permitted for a Federal election--
       ``(A) to register to vote in such election at the polling 
     place using a form that meets the requirements under section 
     9(b) of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993; and
       ``(B) to cast a vote in such election.
       ``(2) Exception.--The requirements under paragraph (1) 
     shall not apply to a State in which, under a State law in 
     effect continuously on and after the date of the enactment of 
     this section, there is no voter registration requirement for 
     individuals in the State with respect to elections for 
     Federal office.
       ``(b) Eligible Individual.--For purposes of this section, 
     the term `eligible individual' means, with respect to any 
     election for Federal office, an individual who is otherwise 
     qualified to vote in that election.
       ``(c) Effective Date.--Each State shall be required to 
     comply with the requirements of subsection (a) for the 
     regularly scheduled general election for Federal office 
     occurring in November 2010 and for any subsequent election 
     for Federal office.''.
       (b) Conforming Amendments.--
       (1) Section 401 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15511) is amended by 
     striking ``and 303'' and inserting ``303, and 304''.
       (2) The table of contents of such Act is amended--
       (A) by redesignating the items relating to sections 304 and 
     305 as relating to sections 305 and 306, respectively; and
       (B) by inserting after the item relating to section 303 the 
     following new item:

``Sec. 304. Same day registration.''.

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                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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