April 23, 2009 09:43 PM UTC

21st Century Voter Registration

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• by: Fenny

( – promoted by redstateblues)

The Colorado Senate voted this morning to pass HB1160, a bill that will allow Colorado residents to register to vote and update their registration information online at the Secretary of State’s secure website. The vote was 33-0 in the Senate and passed in the Colorado House last month with a vote of 60-4. Secretary of State Buescher and the County Clerks Association strongly supported the bill. The bill was initiated and supported by New Era Colorado.

Only 2 other states, Arizona and Washington, currently provide voters with the option to register to vote online. In Arizona, voter registration numbers increased by 10% in the first year of the online option being available and over 70% of registrations now occur online. When Washington instituted online voter registration in 2008, almost 40% of new voters registered online. In the first six months, half of the new registrants were under the age of 30.

In other words, there is a strong demand for this registration option among voters.

How does it work? Sounds scary? It’s not. In fact, it’s arguably more secure than the current paper registration option in many ways.  

Here’s the deal:

The online form will allow current Colorado voters to update their registration record with address changes and mail-in ballot status by entering all of the same information that is currently required on a paper registration form. In the case of an address change, a postcard is sent to both the new and old address (like how the post office does when you change your address) in case there was a mistake or someone stole your identity.

The online form will allow first time registrants to register to vote online ONLY if they have a Colorado Driver’s License or ID. For these first time registrants, the digitized signature from their Driver’s License or ID will be used as the required signature on a voter registration form. This means that the person had to show up in person to a government office, provide a birth certificate, and show documentation to a government employee. To me, that sounds about as secure as you can get, so don’t even think about bringing up the argument about undocumented immigrants being able to register to vote online.

Assistant Minority Leader Senator Brophy gave a short speech before the vote this morning urging his colleagues to vote yes for the bill. It helped. The bill didn’t get a single No vote and accumulated a boatload of co-sponsors. Quite a difference a year makes–New Era Colorado first brought this bill forward last year and it died in House Committee. We learned our lesson and secured the support of the Secretary of State and the County Clerks Association this year. New Era volunteers sent thousands of letters and calls to legislators in a broad grassroots peer-to-peer campaign, testified in committees, and lobbied their legislators.