INSTITUTE INDEX: Embracing the benefits of online voter registration
A growing number of states around the South and nationwide are moving to online voter registration systems, which are more secure, cost-effective, and popular with voters and elections officials alike.
Date on which Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) signed a bill creating a statewide online voter registration system: 5/15/2015
Year by which the system is supposed be in place: 2017
Number of states that currently or will soon offer online voter registration: at least 28
Number of those states that are in the South: 6*
Year in which Louisiana approved online voter registration, one of the earliest states to do so: 2009
Number of people who have used Louisiana's system to date: more than 220,000
Maximum number of minutes it takes to complete Louisiana's registration: 3
Number of problems reported since Louisiana's program began: 0
Year in which the Presidential Commission on Election Administration, co-chaired by lawyers for the campaigns of President Obama and Mitt Romney, recommended online voter registration: 2014
Year in which the Pew Charitable Trusts released a report that concluded online registration systems reduce the potential for fraud, improve the accuracy of voter rolls and save taxpayer dollars: 2014
According to the Pew report, which was based on a 2013 survey of 13 states that at the time had online registration, number of security breaches that have been reported as a result of online voter registration: 0
Average cost to build an online voter registration system in those 13 states: $240,000
Of those 13 states, number that reported greater voter satisfaction and reduced burdens for election officials as a result of online voter registration: 11
* Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.
(Click on figure to go to source.)
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Sue Sturgis
Sue is the former editorial director of Facing South and the Institute for Southern Studies.