Unless you opt out, California residents will be registered to vote when they get a driver license.
California Governor Jerry Brown took a huge step forward in the effort to
get more California residents to the voting booth:
After a record low turnout in last year’s election, Gov. Jerry Brown of California signed legislation on Saturday designed to increase electoral participation by automatically registering eligible state voters when they obtain a driver’s license.
The law, which allows Californians to opt out of registering at the Department of Motor Vehicles, was the most prominent of more than a dozen bills relating to elections that Mr. Brown signed on Saturday. It puts California at the forefront of efforts across the country to increase electoral participation at a time when many states have added new hurdles, like voter identification laws.
California joins Oregon, where Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed a
similar automatic voter registration law in August.
Meanwhile, states with Republican-controlled legislatures continue to make it harder and harder for citizens to vote. In Kansas, Secretary of State Kris Kobach is defending himself in a federal lawsuit over his decision to suspend the voting rights of 37,000 registered voters. In Alabama, Democrats are calling for a Justice Department investigation as 31 Department of Motor Vehicle offices are set to close, leaving only four open offices in the entire state—which requires a valid state ID for voting.
Calls for a nationwide automatic voter registration law are growing louder. Hillary Clinton called for universal, automatic voter registration in June and Bernie Sanders has introduced two automatic voter registration laws in the Congress this year.