Opinion
Technology and the Voting Booth

The following article by Lisa Gilbert of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PRIG) offers one perspective on the role that technology can play in modernizing the voting registration process. 

Our current registration policies use the 19th century technologies of pen and paper. This antiquated approach leads to excessive costs, inefficiencies and inaccuracies, as both election officials and citizen voters experience hurdles from our paper-based system.

The issues with our current system have real implications for our country; a recent study estimated that over 2 million voters were unable to cast a ballot in the 2008 general election due to registration problems. Human error is a major part of the current system, and as a result we see problems like incomplete and duplicate registrations.

The system also leads to an extremely challenging workload for election officials, as they face large piles of registration forms at the moment that they most need to focus on the logistics of Election Day.

Currently millions of eligible citizens, even those who believe they have registered, find themselves unable to vote. This can lead to long lines and confusion at the polls on Election Day. The partial solution of provisional balloting is imperfect at best. Records are frequently inaccurate, often with incorrect address or name information. Individuals who have moved within the two years preceding an election are more likely to encounter registration difficulties at the polls. The difficulties voters encounter are multiplied for the American men and women who serve in the armed forces. They are almost twice as likely to experience registration problems as the general public.

Maintaining the current voter registration system is also very costly. A recent U.S.PIRG survey of 100 jurisdictions showed that these counties conservatively spent more than $33 million on registration implementation and error correction in 2008.

A modern data-driven registration system could build upon the innovations already in use in several states, such as Arizona, Kansas and Washington where there is online registration, while still allowing election authorities to retain complete jurisdiction over their lists.

What are the benefits of a modern system?

Modernizing the system would improve its accuracy. Both federal and state governments currently have the capacity to acquire data from several other official databases. States that pull information from other data pools, like the motor vehicles records, have been able to eliminate duplicate, ineligible and invalid registrations. This has provided greater accuracy and fewer opportunities for fraud.

Improving the system would save taxpayers money. Although some startup costs may be associated with implementing a modernized system, cost savings could be realized in a short time. At a PEW Center on the States conference on the topic, Canadian officials shared that their modernized system cost $13.3 million Canadian dollars to implement in 1996, but is estimated to have saved Canadian taxpayers approximately $150 million since its introduction.

Changing the system would also increase efficiency. By eliminating paper forms and using existing database technology, we can significantly reduce the burden on local election officials. Improvement in efficiency will reduce the number of provisional ballots, decrease polling place problems and lower the need for third-party registration.

The need to modernize our system in a way that is based on the experiences of the administrators on the ground is critical. U.S.PIRG has been reaching out to local officials to garner support for basic tenants of modernization, and to receive input.

Through this ongoing outreach process, U.S. PIRG recommends that we utilize multiple official database sources to add voters to the rolls and to increase list accuracy, ensure we make voter registration more portable for voters who move or change status, and that we establish a failsafe method for eligible voters who are omitted from the rolls or whose records contained an error to cast a ballot.

If you are interested in learning more, or supporting the basic concepts of modernization, please go to www.uspirg.org/voting-democracy/fair-and-open-elections, or contact Lisa Gilbert at lgilbert@pirg.org.