A simple, potent overhaul could have biggest impact on elections

Jonathan Brater of the Brennan Center for Justice, a public policy institute at the New York University School of Law, said voter ID laws may get more attention, but getting more Americans registered to vote could have the biggest impact on elections.

Under the federal Motor Voter Act, which went into effect in 1995, states must offer to register any eligible citizen who seeks a new driver’s license or public assistance.

States that have switched to automatic registration don’t just offer people the opportunity to register — they go ahead and do it for them whenever an eligible voter applies for a license, without requiring the potential voter or a DMV clerk to take any additional action.

“Motor voter was always the homework we didn’t want to do,” said state Rep. Chris Pearson of the Vermont Progressive Party, who sponsored the legislation there.

[...] automatic registration has added more than 200,000 people to the voter rolls in that state, an increase of nearly 10 percent.