Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) wants more people voting, so he's taking up Hillary Clinton's
call for universal, automatic voter registration with legislation. His bill, which counts Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) and many in House leadership among its 42 cosponsors,
would register people getting a driver's license.
“Today, too many politicians are trying to make it harder than ever for citizens to make their voices heard at the ballot box,” Cicilline said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The Automatic Voter Registration Act will protect the right to vote and expand access for eligible voters across the United States. I thank my colleagues who have co-sponsored this important legislation that helps to expand one of our most essential rights as Americans.”
The Rhode Islander’s bill would require local motor vehicle departments to forward individuals' information to elections officials, who would then send the person a notification that they’ll be registered to vote after 21-days. Anyone can opt out of the registration before that 21-day window is up, but they will be automatically registered unless they do so.
There are still people who would fall through the cracks—not everybody drives—but it would certainly reduce barriers for registration, making it far simpler. The bill is highly unlikely even to get a committee hearing in House Speaker John Boehner's Republican House, but it is an important political marker for 2016. Cicilline says he's been working on his bill for several months, and that the timing of it wasn't tied to Clinton's speech on voting rights. But, he adds, "[a]nytime you have important presidential candidates talking about an issue, it helps bring attention to it." He's right. This is a good issue to be in the mix of the 2016 campaign, and one where the contrast between the two parties couldn't be stronger.
