Issues

Universal Registration

Imagine if government agencies could share information so that each American were automatically registered to vote and your registration followed you when you moved, without your having to jump through the hoops of registering to vote at your new address. This system is universal registration. Registration for all citizens is not a new concept. Many countries have universal registration, such as Australia and Canada.

Vote Caging 

Americans who have voted for years can get kicked off of the voter rolls when partisans or others issue challenges to a person's voter status based on slim evidence. The evidence may be as shabby as a piece of returned mail, although we all know that the right to vote shouldn't depend upon the reliability of the postal service.

Voter Fraud

The type of voter fraud that some partisan operatives discuss simply doesn't happen in the US. An intensive study conducted by the Department of Justice failed to turn up a trend of voter fraud. This is just one reason that the New York Times called voter fraud a myth. 

Voter fraud supposedly occurs when individuals register to vote fraudulently and then show up at the polls to vote. There's just one thing: This has never been demonstrated to happen. The system in place is working, verifying that each voter only votes once.

Voter ID Requirements

Research shows that only seven percent of Americans don't have a valid photo ID. The voters who don't have a valid ID are disproportionately voters of color, low-income voters or young voters - those who move often or don't drive. Partisan operatives are often willing to use strict voter ID requirements slice voters out of the electorate who they don't think will vote their way.

Database Matching

State governments often share data about voters across state lines. The goal is to make sure the rolls are as accurate as possible, but shoddy databases are being used and incorrectly booting voters off of the rolls. As reported recently in the Washington Post, this may keep scores of voters from exercising their right to vote.

Voter Suppression 

Voter suppression occurs when partisans or other operatives use policy, misinformation, or other means to try to discourage voter turnout. This can take many forms.