Understanding Online Voter Registration

In June 2013, The Pew Charitable Trusts conducted a survey of the 13 states that offered online voter registration at that time: Arizona, California, Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Nevada, New York, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah, and Washington. This brief provides a summary of the survey's major findings in five areas—cost, implementation, voter convenience, system management, and online security—and then examines ways in which these states would like to improve online voter registration.

Research has shown that online registration saves taxpayer dollars, increases the accuracy of voter rolls, and provides a convenient option for Americans who wish to register to vote or update their information.  Overall, the responses indicate that online registration is cost-effective for states, convenient for voters, and secure, because it reduces the potential for fraud while improving the accuracy of voter rolls.