What Is Election Day Registration

Where Is EDR Used?

• Election Day Registration was first introduced in Maine in 1973, followed soon after by Minnesota and Wisconsin.
• Since the 1970’s five more states have adopted EDR, allowing voters to register or correct a registration on Election Day - Idaho, Iowa, Montana, New Hampshire, and Wyoming.
• North Carolina is the latest state to move towards EDR by allowing voters to register and vote during the early voting period up to three days before Election Day.
• A 10th state, North Dakota, does not have a voter registration requirement, making it equivalent to EDR states.
• Connecticut and Rhode Island allow voters to register and vote on Election Day only for the office of President.

Issues

• In a mobile society, voters move frequently. It is more convenient and a better option than voting at their prior address if they can re-register and cast a normal ballot at their new polling place on Election Day.

• Many younger and newer voters focus on the election itself but are not aware of advance registration deadlines. Just as the election becomes most publicized and compelling to these potential voters, the deadline may pass and their chance to vote is lost.

• Overall, the U.S. has over 200 million eligible voters, 135 million of whom are listed on the registration rolls.With thousands of county, city, and town clerks responsible for maintaining the rolls, it is unrealistic to expect every registration to be accurately counted and entered. Tens of thousands of registered and interested voters are dropped from the rolls inadvertently and will lose their voting rights until their registration issues are corrected.

• The prevalence of registration by outside entities, like the Department of Motor Vehicles or independent voter registration drives, exacerbates the problems associated with maintenance of the voter rolls. Over-reliance on third party registrars can result in tens of thousands of faulty registrations. Often when a voter arrives at the polls they find that they are either not registered or that their registration is incorrect.

• In a democracy the right to vote is so fundamental that it would seem no eligible voter should lose the right and opportunity to vote because of a registration issue that can be fixed on Election Day.

The Benefits of EDR

• Higher voter turnout.In the 2006 midterm elections, turnout of voting eligible citizens in states with Election Day Registration averaged 13 points higher than turnout in states without EDR.
• More citizens gain the benefits of participating as voters. In 2006, nearly 750,000 people registered and voted on Election Day in the 6 EDR states where data was available.
• Better experience for a first-time voter than being turned away from the polls. When a registered voter has voted successfully, they are more likely to participate in future elections.
• Less reliance on provisional ballots.  Election Day Registration allows voters inadvertently purged from voting rolls to cast a real (not a provisional ballot) on Election Day. In 2004, over 33% of the 2 million provisional ballots cast went uncounted.
• More accurate registration with officials. Whether it happens before the election or on Election Day, voters who are registered by election officials, as opposed to third parties, are more likely to be registered correctly.