Online Voter Registration: New Interactive Map Shows State Policies, Benefits

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Projects: Election Initiatives
Online Voter Registration: State Policies and Benefits

The Pew Charitable Trusts recently released a new interactive tool—based on a survey of the 31 states that, along with the District of Columbia, offer online voter registration—showing that this service is cost-effective for states, easy and convenient for voters, and more accurate and secure than paper forms, reducing the potential for fraud by instantly verifying voters’ identity and eligibility. The tool tracks which states offer online registration and summarizes the survey’s findings across five topics: legislation, development, features, access, and processing.

Some results of note include that most states automatically link an individual’s motor vehicle license records with their voter records and that most states’ online registration systems do not require paper printing or manual data entry.

To register online to vote in your state, click here.

Samuel Derheimer manages and Keara Castaldo is a research associate for election initiatives at The Pew Charitable Trusts.

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Data Visualization April 11, 2016

State Online Voter Registration Systems

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Data Visualization April 11, 2016

Online voter registration saves taxpayer dollars, increases the accuracy of voter rolls, and provides a convenient way for Americans to register or update their information. The Pew Charitable Trusts monitors and surveys states that implement or continue to offer online voter registration. Overall, the responses indicate that online registration is cost-effective for states, easy for voters, and more accurate than paper forms. It is also more secure, reducing the potential for fraud by instantly verifying voters’ identities and eligibility. This interactive tool tracks which states offer online registration and summarizes the survey findings across five topics: legislation, development, features, access, and processing.

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