4 ms·

Why isn't eligibility automatic? Whether state of federal, doesn't the government already know whether or not you qualify to vote?

by biot 10y ago

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
Someone1234 10y ago
That would make rational sense, but strangely no. Unfortunately the US is setup in such a way so that individual states get to decide who is eligible to vote. This is a state right defined in the constitution[0]. In practice the vast majority of states have similar voting requirements. But because, in theory, they could all differ then no unified automated system is possible, it would have to be per-state. Of course individual states could create an automatic voter registration system, and I believe some have/do. But a lot of other states are actively trying to disenfranchise the poor, young, or minorities who would benefit the most from automatic registration. Ultimately voting and voter registration needs to be handled by a non-partisan organisation within states. But considering it would take partisan politicians to set up such a non-partisan organisation, it has little chance of happening. [0] http://blog.constitutioncenter.org/2014/08/constitution-check-who-decides-who-gets-to-vote/ http://blog.constitutioncenter.org/2014/08/constitution-chec...
- jimktrains2 10y ago
  In PA, when you change your address with PennDOT (who runs our DMV), there is a checkbox to update your voter registration. It's not the most obvious connection, but it seems to work pretty well.
kevin_thibedeau 10y ago
The party machines play games to try and purge the other side's voters to bias the results in their favor. This gets woven into the 10 year redistricting cycle as they scheme to gerrymander districts to further dilute the opposing party's constituents. Everyone in office is a beneficiary of this system so they won't take measures to fix it.

4 ms·

Why isn't eligibility automatic? Whether state of federal, doesn't the government already know whether or not you qualify to vote?

by biot 10y ago

Why isn't eligibility automatic? Whether state of federal, doesn't the government already know whether or not you qualify to vote?

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
Someone1234 10y ago
That would make rational sense, but strangely no. Unfortunately the US is setup in such a way so that individual states get to decide who is eligible to vote. This is a state right defined in the constitution[0]. In practice the vast majority of states have similar voting requirements. But because, in theory, they could all differ then no unified automated system is possible, it would have to be per-state. Of course individual states could create an automatic voter registration system, and I believe some have/do. But a lot of other states are actively trying to disenfranchise the poor, young, or minorities who would benefit the most from automatic registration. Ultimately voting and voter registration needs to be handled by a non-partisan organisation within states. But considering it would take partisan politicians to set up such a non-partisan organisation, it has little chance of happening. [0] http://blog.constitutioncenter.org/2014/08/constitution-check-who-decides-who-gets-to-vote/ http://blog.constitutioncenter.org/2014/08/constitution-chec...
- jimktrains2 10y ago
  In PA, when you change your address with PennDOT (who runs our DMV), there is a checkbox to update your voter registration. It's not the most obvious connection, but it seems to work pretty well.
kevin_thibedeau 10y ago
The party machines play games to try and purge the other side's voters to bias the results in their favor. This gets woven into the 10 year redistricting cycle as they scheme to gerrymander districts to further dilute the opposing party's constituents. Everyone in office is a beneficiary of this system so they won't take measures to fix it.