TRENTON -- Gov. Chris Christie on Thursday rejected a bill that sought to automatically register New Jerseyans to vote when they visit a Motor Vehicle Commission office to either get or renew their driver's license.

The governor went as far to mock bill's sponsors, saying in his conditional veto it should have been dubbed "The Voter Fraud Enhancement and Permission Act."

Christie rejected the bill (A1944) that would have automatically registered people when they applied for a permit, license, identification card or renewed a license unless the resident specifically chose to opt out.

He criticized lawmakers for sending him a proposal he said would cost $1 million to initially implement and then $400,000 a year to maintain.

The day before his office announced he rejected the proposal, Christie bashed it during a Statehouse news conference when asked about elections.

"I've got some bills sitting on my desk now that would automatically register people when they went to renew their driver's license unless they said affirmatively 'I don't want to be registered to vote,'" Christie said on Wednesday.

"This is just like a cocktail of fraud," he said. "I don't think a lot to ask someone if you want to exercise your right and the privilege to vote to actually register."

Lawmakers who sponsored the bill said its intent was to encourage people to participate in the democratic process.

"Sometimes voter turnout can be stymied simply by the fact that would-be voters have forgotten to update their registration because they moved," said Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D-Passaic) said in a statement in May. "Hopefully this will encourage first time drivers to engage in the voting process and also make it easier for others to ensure that their voter registration stays current."

Christie added language in the proposal he sent back to the Democratic-controlled Legislature recommending that victims of domestic violence or stalking may register to vote without disclosing their address.

Christie also nixed a separate proposal that would have allowed 17-year-olds to vote in primary elections if they turn 18 before the next general election.

"Proponents may attempt to justify this legally-questionable expansion of the franchise by arguing that pulling the lever in the primary is not really 'voting' but merely participating in a political party's internal decision making process," Christie said in his veto message.

"However, when I left my polling place after the most recent primary I was given a sticker that said 'I voted,' not one that said 'I participated in an internal political party process.'"

Assemblyman Andrew Zwicker (D-Middlesex), one of the bill's (A3591) sponsors, said it's "incredibility disappointing" Christie nixed the proposal that received bipartisan support in the Assembly and Senate.

"The idea was that if you're going to vote this Novembers, you should be a part of who your nominee is going to be," Zwicker said.

"It's so critically important to vote and I believe we should be doing everything possible to encourage people to vote -- including young people," he said. "It just seemed to me a very logical thing to do."

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or on Facebook. Follow NJ.com Politics on Facebook.