Iowa to Offer Online Voter Registration

Article Read time:
Projects: Election Initiatives
Iowa to Offer Online Voter Registration

The Iowa Voter Registration Commission unanimously approved a rule Jan. 20 allowing the state to create a system for qualified voters to complete their registrations online.

The new system will import information from the Iowa Department of Transportation’s records, including the applicant’s signature, into voter registration forms and then automatically forward the completed forms to the state's voter database.

According to The Muscatine Journal, new Secretary of State Paul Pate (R-IA) said this rule will allow 93 percent of citizens with a motor vehicles record to register online, and amendments can be made to the regulation to incorporate those who do not have an ID issued by the Department of Transportation.

State officials said it will take approximately 18 months to prepare the online voter registration program and they hope to roll it out in time for the June 2016 primary. Twenty states offer online voter registration, and several others are in the process of implementing such systems.

Follow us on Twitter using #electiondata and get the latest data dispatches, research, and news by subscribing today. 

America’s Overdose Crisis
America’s Overdose Crisis

America’s Overdose Crisis

Sign up for our five-email course explaining the overdose crisis in America, the state of treatment access, and ways to improve care

Sign up
Quick View
America’s Overdose Crisis

America’s Overdose Crisis

Sign up for our five-email course explaining the overdose crisis in America, the state of treatment access, and ways to improve care

Sign up
RELATED
Tags
Election administration
Projects
Election Initiatives
Places
Iowa

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

An adult and a child huddle in front of a laptop computer, their faces lit by the screen, with a room and bright windows behind them.

Article

November 27, 2023 Researchers Share How State Grants Boost Broadband Access
A group of teenagers gather in a park with bikes, their silhouettes in high contrast to the cloudy sky behind them.

Article

November 2, 2023 Insights on Brain Development Can Improve Youth Justice
Five video cameras on tripods stand in a line, with one reporter holding a camera slightly out of focus, all aimed at the same subject.

Article

October 6, 2023 Data-Based Journalism Needed to Advance Youth Justice

MORE FROM PEW

An aerial view of a vast wetland, with scattered vegetation visible on sandy islands. In Western Australia, a Conservation Model for the World
A presentation being given by a businesswoman to a group of participants at a business conference. Four Plan Features Can Boost 'Retirement Readiness'
A large group of people in formal or traditional attire stands together on a stage, with a digital background depicting marine life and the large text “WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies.” WTO Needs to Redouble Its Effort on Fishing Subsidies
A man in a winter hat and sunglasses kneels on a rocky shoreline in front of a campfire, holding a metal mug with gloved hands. Behind him, in the water, a motorboat is moored to the shore. Cliffs rise on both sides of the water. Why Newfoundland’s South Coast Fjords Are Sacred
Composite image of modern city network communication concept

Learn the Basics of Broadband from Our Limited Series

Sign up for our four-week email course on Broadband Basics
Quick View

How does broadband internet reach our homes, phones, and tablets? What kind of infrastructure connects us all together? What are the major barriers to broadband access for American communities?

Pills illustration
Pills illustration

What Is Antibiotic Resistance—and How Can We Fight It?

Sign up for our four-week email series The Race Against Resistance.
Quick View
Pills illustration

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria, also known as “superbugs,” are a major threat to modern medicine. But how does resistance work, and what can we do to slow the spread? Read personal stories, expert accounts, and more for the answers to those questions in our four-week email series: Slowing Superbugs.