Simple and User Friendly
To be successful in achieving the performance targets in the areas of completeness, currency, and
accuracy, registration must be simple and user friendly. Registration of voters should not be a
literacy test and, to the extent possible, should not impose financial burdens on voters. When the
registration process is clouded by these elements, its legitimacy and performance on the three
key
indicators suffer.
Steps can be taken to encourage registration, including the following:
- use a simple registration form and/or registration procedure
- target some hard-to-register groups with special registration campaigns
- involve other groups in registration initiatives (such as women's groups, minority
organisations,
youth spokespersons, etc.)
- enable registration to take place relatively late in the election campaign, when interest in the
election is likely to be relatively high
- develop and implement effective voter education campaigns
Historically, voter registration has been relatively low in the United States in relation to other
advanced democracies. The U.S. Congress in 1993 passed the National Voter Registration Act,
which was intended to increase the proportion of eligible Americans who registered to vote. It
provides an interesting case study in mechanisms to increase voter registration.
The U.S. Motor Voter Registration System
The Motor Voter Act was a significant effort at standardizing and simplifying the system of voter
registration in the United States, a system that had been characterised as highly variable from one
state to another, and in which some states continued to maintain reasonably complex voter
registration processes.
According to a report on the Motor Voter Act, the legislation was intended to do the
following:
- increase the number of eligible citizens who register
- ensure that accurate and current voter registration rolls are maintained
- enhance the participation of eligible citizens as voters in elections for federal
office53
The act has accomplished these goals by introducing a common and simple registration form, by
introducing a nationwide system of mail registration, and by enabling many federal and state
agencies to provide voter registration forms at the time citizens contact these agencies. Agencies
that handle motor vehicle registration and renewal of drivers licences are the most significant
contributors in this process.
Although it is difficult to determine with certainty the effect and the cost of such changes, the
Federal Election Commission (FEC) identified the following factors. In terms of effect, it was
noted that in 1996, voter registration in the forty-five states covered by the act rose by 1.82
percent, or about 3,390,000 people. It is also significant that between 1992 and 1996, voter
turnout actually declined by more than 5 percent. In other words, at a time when fewer
Americans
were casting a ballot, more were securing the right to do so. It is reasonable to conclude that the
simplified registration procedures contributed to this increased registration.
In terms of the cost associated with introducing this more comprehensive and inclusive system,
the
FEC suggested that it was not possible to determine precisely the additional cost implications.
Furthermore, it was suggested that estimating the costs by asking state election officials to do so
would be counterproductive, because there is an inverse relationship between perceptions of the
need for the reform and its perceived cost.
The one cost that could be estimated with some certainty is the added mailing costs for the
national
postal registration system, which was estimated as 'easily running into seven figures.' In
response
to this increased cost, the FEC recommended the establishment of a new class of postage for
official election matters, and also recommended the setting of most favourable rates for this
service.
