Report What to Expect from California’s New Motor Voter Law By Eric McGhee, Mindy Romero Jun 15, 2016 In 2015, California passed major legislation to increase the state’s voter rolls by simplifying the voter registration process. Under the New Motor Voter Act, the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) will electronically transmit information about DMV customers who are eligible to vote to the California Secretary of State, which will add eligible customers to the voter rolls unless they opt out. We find that this law has the potential to significantly alter the demographic composition of the California electorate, making the population of registered voters more representative of the state as a whole. Our estimates also suggest that the new system may rapidly expand the voter rolls, adding more than 2 million new registrants in the first year. Key implementation issues will decide the impact of the New Motor Voter Act. To ensure the law’s success, the state should require DMV customers to attest to their eligibility to vote as a precondition for completing their transaction. It will also be necessary to mobilize new registrants aggressively if they are to become new voters.
blog post Voter Registration: Not Quite Automatic Yet By Eric McGhee Nov 11, 2015 A new law has the potential to register millions more Californians to vote—depending on how it is implemented.
Fact Sheet Voter Participation in California By Mark Baldassare, Lunna Lopes, Dean Bonner, David Kordus Sep 9, 2015
blog post Automatic Voter Registration Is No Panacea By Mark Baldassare May 6, 2015 There’s no question that automatic voter registration would swell California’s voter rolls. But would it significantly increase turnout?
