Oregon pioneers automatic voter registration

Oregon became the first state to automatically register Americans to vote on Monday.

A new bill signed into law by Democratic Gov. Kate Brown “puts the burden of registration on the state instead of voters,” according to the Associated Press.


The law makes it so that anyone over 18 who is not registered to vote in Oregon but who has dealt with the state’s Driver and Motor Vehicle Services Division since 2013 will be mailed a ballot 20 days before the next statewide election. Oregon predicts that this new system will bring 300,000 more eligible voters to the polls.

To implement the new law, Oregon’s DMV will share the information it has stored — such as age, address and citizenship — with the state’s secretary of state to automatically register those eligible to vote.

The new law passed the Oregon Senate last week 18-12, with all Republicans and one Democrat voting against it.

Higher turnout in Oregon will likely benefit Democrats — and Republicans worry it will increase voter fraud and costs. ‘‘Simply because it makes us unique or makes us first does not necessarily mean that it actually improves on what we’re doing,’’ State Senator Jackie Winters (R) told the AP.

Seventeen years ago, Oregon became the first state to use mail-in ballots for all elections.