Over the last few years, the nature of voter rolls and registers across the nation have come into question in their authenticity. We are now at a time when these rolls need to be updated, along with how they are created and managed. By having basic standards across the nation, our voter rolls would be more secure and trustworthy. All states would be required to follow these base rules, and would be able to put other restrictions or limits on their individual state laws regarding voter rolls and registers. It should be impressed that states should retain their sovereignty when it comes to their laws and abilities for all elections within their state lines, but when it comes to federal elections there should be a baseline for regulations. The following will give a brief breakdown on these baseline points.
Perhaps the best place to start would be to define the base rules for who can register to vote for federal elections in all the states. The most simple and accepted condition for being able to register is the individual must be an American citizen, whether this is a natural born citizen or have completed the process for naturalization. The age for being able to register has been 18, but now this seems a bit young since most people this age have not really made much headway in learning and life experience, so a new minimum age of 21 would work better. If a citizen would like to enroll sooner, then after their first six months of service in the armed forces or in a first responder role, they would qualify for enrollment. It is becoming increasingly plain that citizens need to be better educated in the history of our country, the form of our government and a good grounding in the Constitution. A course in these things with a test would be a good start. By passing this test and course, the citizen would prove their knowledge. A paper form proving this pass would be provided to the DMV by the citizen at the time of completion.
There are a few entities involved in managing the voters roll along with other information necessary to keep the rolls up to date and accurate. Updated and accurate rolls are some of the most important aspects of free and fair elections. There are things each state, county or parish or borough, post office, social security administration, and department of motor vehicles need to be doing to keep the rolls accurate.
It is the state’s duty enact laws, enforce laws as needed, and periodically audit the practices of the entities involved in the creation and maintenance of the voter rolls. If these laws are not in place and being enforced, then the state has failed its residents. Most states already do have laws and procedures in place to allow these organizations to create and monitor these rolls, but these laws and regulations should be reviewed and updated if needed.
The Supervisor of Elections of each county, parish, or borough is responsible for keeping its rolls current and accurate. Some things that could help complete this duty are to follow if they are not already in place. Voter identification cards should be issued with unique alpha and numeric numbers that are randomly generated. These numbers should be verified as unique to confirm there are no other holders of that number, and can be received in the mail after the potential voter registers with the Department of Motor Vehicles. Employees of the supervisor should periodically audit aspects of the registrations for red flags in rolls such as birthdates from over a hundred years ago, and duplicate names or addresses. The voter rolls should be a database that is able to be easily sorted by all aspects of registration including name, birthdate, social security number, address, and voter registration identification number. This would allow for the employees to quickly identify potential fraud and or malicious registration practices. The supervisor’s office should be periodically verifying the various organizations in the roles are properly communicating changes at least monthly, like moves, and deaths.
There would be a couple of tasks the supervisor’s office should be doing on a regular basis especially after each general election, which might be considered controversial, but would aide in the proper maintenance of voter rolls. The first of these tasks would be in the case of registered citizens that have not participated in an election in 8 years, they should be sent a letter letting them know their registration is inactivated until they report to the DMV and verify and update necessary information. Registered voters with no activity for 12 years, should be removed from the rolls, and must complete the enrollment process again. This would not include proving citizenship or passing the Civics/History course again since that will remain on file, but it would include them having to verify their name, social, birthdate, and physical address to reenroll. Some people or government officials would say this is disingenuous to the voters and might be hurtful doing so. They may also claim increased costs, but honestly this is the best way to remove the threat of voter fraud, such as the instances of “inactive” registered that were activated just in time to participate in the 2020 election.
Our Post Offices would be responsible for keeping accurate and up to date addresses for their areas, and would also be responsible for verifying the validity of addresses of citizens. Primarily this should entail confirming whether an address is for a residence, business, or an empty lot. When there is new development, the address should be physically verified and its designation assigned in their system as to its classification. If a citizen finds themselves homeless, then the supervisor of election office and post office should designate an address for that condition and the citizen should be sure to register that address at the DMV. These tasks should be performed regularly and addresses physically verified periodically to ensure accurate records and correct any changes, such as an empty lot with a new residence, or a residence turned into a business. No citizen should be registered under an address that is not their primary residence.
The Social Security Administration, while it is a federal organization, should utilize its county offices to monitor and maintain records of deaths, and other changes like changes in name due to marriage or other instances. These county offices should be reporting these changes to the supervisor’s office immediately or within 30 days. In the case of a death, the registration should be deleted from the voter roll immediately. In the case of changes to a citizen’s name, that change should also be completed within 30 days. They should audit this practice periodically to make sure they are performing their part to maintain voter rolls.
In most areas the Department of Motor Vehicles is responsible for voter registration and allows for a one stop shop of tax, tags, titles, and photo identification. This practice should continue with a few changes. The DMV should not be habit driven to register individuals to vote! This should be a separate process done at the citizen’s request. Too often I have witnessed a clerk automatically ask someone who is just getting a drivers license or identification card if they would like to register to vote. This practice makes it far too easy to accidentally register persons not eligible to vote. The citizen should provide proof of passing a civics/history course or documentation of their service for 6 months in either the armed forces or a first responder role, such as fire fighter, law enforcement, or paramedic. If they had taken a course in their senior year or last year of high school, their proof of pass should be presented at the time of voter registration or any time after receipt. They may present this proof after passing the course in high school, but would not be able to register until the age of 21. Photo identification cards or drivers’ licenses are created for many purposes and can be the proof of citizenship at the polling place. A symbol or other feature on the card can be the indicator that the individual presenting the ID is a citizen to facilitate speedy citizen verification at the polling location. When receiving their first photo id, the citizen can be confirmed by presentation of original state issued birth certificate and social security card. All documents presented should be physical and scanned into a profile with the DMV for the individual. The proof of passing the course or service documents can be scanned in at the time the citizen receives these documents. In most cases, the citizen must prove their physical address via documents accepted by the DMV, such as utility bills or an affidavit signed by an individual on the utility bills or rental agreement. All changes should be reported to Supervisor within 30 days immediately, such as the citizens name or address. One more change that I would like to see, is that of convicted felons having their right to vote restored in a timelier manner. I feel that once they have finished their incarceration period, they should be able to reregister and participate in elections. Making a citizen unable to vote for years after their incarceration because of parole or debts owed to the state, is to me more harmful to the citizens faith in the system.
This has been an overview of the basic rules that all states should be following going forward regarding voter registrations. If these are done, then all citizens would have the faith in our elections, and many I think would be more drawn to participating.