Oregon’s new automatic voter registration takes effect Monday.
It builds on the existing federal "motor voter" law requiring states to offer people an opportunity to register to vote when they get or update a driver's license.
But Oregon’s system goes further by provisionally registering everyone who gets a license.
These prospective voters will be sent a notice giving them 21 days to let elections officials know if they don't want to be registered. As a result, Oregon will become the first voter registration system that is "opt out" instead of "opt in."
The State estimates an additional 300,000 voters will be added to the rolls AND any concerns, genuine or otherwise, the system will be enrolling non-citizens are alleviated because Oregon already requires proof of citizenship when registering for a license but does NOT when strictly registering to vote.
First we enacted vote-by-mail which has been a resounding success. Now automatic voter registration when you get a license. We do some things right in Oregon. As always, don’t peruse the comments on the O-live website unless you want to read a bunch of right wing rage.