The League of Women Voters of California joins with Secretary of State Alex Padilla in celebrating the historic passage of AB 1461, which will provide California citizens additional opportunities to participate in democracy through exercise of the basic right to vote. Voting is a fundamental citizen right that must be guaranteed. Bringing as many eligible Californians into our election process as possible has great rewards for our democracy.

The League stands firmly behind efforts to make voter registration easy and accessible to all eligible citizens. California ranks 38th among the states in voter registration, a dismal record that must be improved. AB 1461 could potentially bring the 6.6 million eligible, but unregistered, voters in our state—who are predominantly Latino, African American and Asian-Pacific Islanders—into the electoral process.

The LWVC has worked relentlessly for full implementation of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) in state agencies including Covered California and, currently, at the Department of Motor Vehicles. We were encouraged that, during the course of NVRA negotiations with the Governor’s office, the Secretary of State’s office, the DMV, and the Department of Transportation, funding for the DMV to implement online voter registration during driver’s license transactions was included in this year’s budget. That momentum to implement an automated system must not be lost! This includes ensuring that the DMV will implement efficient, streamlined voter registration before the June 2016 primary.

Subject

Passage of AB 1461