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>3. Another tactic is voter roll purges. A lot of folks don't know that they've been unenrolled from the voter rolls till they show up on election day. This par

>3. Another tactic is voter roll purges. A lot of folks don't know that they've been unenrolled from the voter rolls till they show up on election day. This particularly effects renters who might not realize they aren't registered at their current address, and miss mail regarding it because its sent to their former address. I hear this a lot, but states do have to keep their voter rolls up-to-date by law. People move in and out all the time, and not everyone votes in every election. Are there mechanisms that you think are effective in reducing the chances of someone mistakenly getting removed, while still allowing for stale records to be dropped?

cmh89 5y ago
There are two things that could alleviate the problem without disenfranchising voters. One, don't purge voter roles right before major elections. Two, allow for same day registration updates. You show up, they find you in the system at your old address, you submit an updated registration card, they hand you a ballot, and we all move on with our lives.
- the_snooze 5y ago
  I think that's totally reasonable, but I'm still left wondering when and how states should actually carry out purging their voter records. Would a year before a presidential/midterm election be fair? Six months? What about primary elections? As for same-day registration, I'm sort of for it, but only if people understand the cost involved. And it's not about money. I served as a poll worker in California many years ago, which has very accommodating rules for voting. You can register same-day, vote out-of-precinct, the whole smash. It makes it really easy for voters, which is a good thing. But it has a price: it makes the check-in process more complicated. If there are a lot of people who need to do same-day registration (as was the case in my precinct when the city renamed a street a few weeks before the election), then it causes long lines.
  - cmh89 5y ago
    Why would you do it before major elections if it's just about book keeping? You could purge them a month after mid-terms and a month after general Presidential because those get the most turnout. When you purge your voter roles becomes a lot less important if you allow for registration/reregistration on election day regardless. Oregon has same day registration update (and we have motor voter) and no long-lines because we vote primarily by mail. Disenfranchising voters to 'avoid long-lines' is just a red herring. There are lots of ways to create quick, safe voting. Election problems are the result of a deliberate attempt to make voting harder for certain people. Full stop.

cmh89 5y ago

There are two things that could alleviate the problem without disenfranchising voters. One, don't purge voter roles right before major elections. Two, allow for same day registration updates. You show up, they find you in the system at your old address, you submit an updated registration card, they hand you a ballot, and we all move on with our lives.

the_snooze 5y ago
I think that's totally reasonable, but I'm still left wondering when and how states should actually carry out purging their voter records. Would a year before a presidential/midterm election be fair? Six months? What about primary elections? As for same-day registration, I'm sort of for it, but only if people understand the cost involved. And it's not about money. I served as a poll worker in California many years ago, which has very accommodating rules for voting. You can register same-day, vote out-of-precinct, the whole smash. It makes it really easy for voters, which is a good thing. But it has a price: it makes the check-in process more complicated. If there are a lot of people who need to do same-day registration (as was the case in my precinct when the city renamed a street a few weeks before the election), then it causes long lines.
- cmh89 5y ago
  Why would you do it before major elections if it's just about book keeping? You could purge them a month after mid-terms and a month after general Presidential because those get the most turnout. When you purge your voter roles becomes a lot less important if you allow for registration/reregistration on election day regardless. Oregon has same day registration update (and we have motor voter) and no long-lines because we vote primarily by mail. Disenfranchising voters to 'avoid long-lines' is just a red herring. There are lots of ways to create quick, safe voting. Election problems are the result of a deliberate attempt to make voting harder for certain people. Full stop.