Good afternoon. My name is Lola Acosta, President of the League of Women Voters of Sacramento County. Today, I am representing the League of Women Voters of California in support of Assembly Bill 30, allowing 17 year olds to preregister to vote.

With impending candidate races and ballot issues focused on repairing California’s fiscal and governance condition, decisions will be made by a largely senior electorate, impacting policies for years to come. Meanwhile, almost half of California's eligible voters in the critical 18-24 age bracket are not even registered to vote.

To assure fairness and the participation of all in ballot box decisions, the League of Women Voters believes all people eligible to vote should participate and cast an informed vote in all elections.

We believe it should be easy to register and re-register while meeting basic requirements of citizenship, age and residency.

Further, we believe preregistration established by AB 30 would bring greater uniformity and consistency to the registration process. Under current state law, some 17-year-olds already can preregister if they will turn 18 before the next election. But all other 17-year-olds cannot. For example, a person who will turn 18 the day before an election can preregister, but another who will turn 18 the day after cannot. This creates confusion and leads to uneven and ineffective implementation. Simplifying the registration requirements so that all 17-year-olds can preregister will help streamline election administration.

Under AB 30, teachers of American government could preregister all 17 year old students when they are studying civics and discussing issues, candidates and the election process in class, simplifying current practice.

With the passage of AB 30, the Legislature has given Governor Schwarzenegger a golden opportunity to leave a legacy of civic engagement. Governor, we ask you to sign this bill.

Thank you.

Subject

Voter Pre-Registration for 17-Year-Olds

In response to

Statement urging the Governor to sign AB 30 (Price). (October 1, 2009)