Nevada voters will decide on automatic voter registration next month

isaac brekken / associated press file

A statewide ballot measure seeking to improve access to voting by automatically registering residents is getting some pushback over costs and security.

Voters will decide in November whether people who are eligible will be automatically registered to vote unless they opt out when they seek a new or updated ID and driver’s license at the Department of Motor Vehicles. The ballot measure stems from an initiative petition passed by the 2017 Legislature and vetoed by Gov. Brian Sandoval, who cited security concerns.

“The core freedom of deciding whether one wishes to initiate voter registration belongs to the individual, not the government,” Sandoval wrote in his veto letter. “Moreover, if IP1 becomes law, it would create an unnecessary risk that people who are not qualified voters may unintentionally apply to vote.”

Wayne Thorley, deputy Secretary of State for elections, said his office is concerned about making sure people are educated when being presented with voter registration at the DMV. In April 2017, Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske sent a letter to the DMV asking the agency to stop accepting voter registration materials from people who would not be eligible to vote, such as those who have a green card.

Cegavske said in her letter that the DMV may be misinterpreting the National Voter Registration Act, which requires that the DMV offer voter registration services to people applying for IDs or driver's licenses. The DMV responded that Cegavske’s letter was a “complete surprise” and that it’s up to state election officials to determine eligibility.

Supporters of the measure, however, say automatic voter registration will actually help improve security. More of the paperwork, typically filled out by volunteers who have varying degrees of training, would go through the official hands of the DMV, improving accuracy of information and ensuring that people who are not eligible cannot register to vote.

“Automatic voter registration makes it more accessible for every American citizen living in Nevada to get registered and stay registered to vote,” said Chelsey Wininger, campaign manager for the automatic voter registration ballot question. “It’s a commonsense solution that would make Nevada’s voting system more accurate and secure and block ineligible people from voting, and it’s just a small, simple change at the DMV that registers citizens to vote when they apply for or update their driver’s license or ID, unless they decline.”

Thorley said there is an opportunity to improve the quality of the data on these forms, which are sent to the county election officials.

“A person standing outside the mall with a paper voter reg form and a clipboard, the person filling that out may write sloppily so that we enter their address incorrectly or we write their name wrong,” he said.

Automatic voter registration has been approved by 13 other states and D.C., according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Census data show that in November 2016, there were more than 1.9 million citizens at or over the age of 18. Nevada had more than 1.6 million total registered voters, with just over 1.5 million considered active registered voters.

Supporters of the measure point out that in Oregon, automatic voter registration assisted with registering 250,000 people, according to a Secretary of State’s Office ballot guide.

Should automatic voter registration pass, implementing the system is expected to cost millions of dollars. Thorley said he’s confident the state will be able to establish and secure the transmission of data from the DMV to the local election officials.

“It’s something we’re definitely going to have to have on the forefront of our minds when we’re developing that system, making sure that the data is transmitted securely,” Thorley said.