How Can States Design Equitable Voter Registration Systems?

Caleb Jackson had this perspective in Campaign Legal:

Eighteen states and the District of Columbia have implemented or are in the process of implementing automatic voter registration (AVR). In 2019, the Brennan Center found that AVR increased the average registration rate in every state where it was implemented. Oregon, the first state in the country to implement AVR, has seen its voter registration rates quadruple.

While more states than ever have adopted AVR, only five states have AVR laws that include registration at agencies that administer Medicaid benefits: Colorado, Maryland, Maine*, Massachusetts, and New York*. Many states have primarily or solely implemented AVR at their Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).

Tethering AVR access to the local DMV necessarily limits the categories of voters that will benefit. States should work to expand AVR to agencies that administer Medicaid benefits in order to ensure equitable access to the system.

Read the full opinion here.