Gov. Josh Shapiro announced Tuesday that Pennsylvania became the 24th state to enact automatic voter registration.
“When running for Governor, I made a commitment to bring automatic voter registration to Pennsylvania — the birthplace of our democracy. On this National Voter Registration Day, I’m making that promise a reality,” he said on X, formerly Twitter.
"From now on, when you get or renew your driver’s license or an ID card at the DMV, you’ll be registered to vote unless you choose not to," Shapiro said.
"And by expanding voter registration at our DMVs, we’ll save taxpayers time and money, reduce the number of costly paper registrations and streamline voter registration for Pennsylvanians," he added.
Shapiro called the move “common sense.”
“You already provide proof of identity, residency, age and citizenship at the DMV — all the information you need to register to vote,” Shapiro said.
When running for Governor, I made a commitment to bring automatic voter registration to Pennsylvania — the birthplace of our democracy.
— Governor Josh Shapiro (@GovernorShapiro) September 19, 2023
On this National Voter Registration Day, I’m making that promise a reality. pic.twitter.com/7hSnHLDKAg
Pennsylvania now has automatic voter registration.
— Governor Josh Shapiro (@GovernorShapiro) September 19, 2023
There are about 1.6 million Pennsylvanians who are eligible to vote but aren’t registered.
This is a safe, secure, and streamlined way to be able to get them to register and participate in our democracy. pic.twitter.com/0R2PgfUZXm
In addition to Pennsylvania, automatic voter registration is used Oregon, Minnesota, Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia.
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Many conservatives, like Judicial Watch's Tom Fitton, called automatic voter registration "legally dubious" and argued it would be easier for those who are ineligible to "vote illegally." Others looked on the bright side.
Neighboring New Jersey created automatic voter registration in 2019… almost every month since then, Republicans have registered more new voters than democrats https://t.co/7bXjCOc5Q7
— Ryan James Girdusky (@RyanGirdusky) September 19, 2023
Going defeatist over automatic voter registration in PA is classic GOP. Even if you don’t like it on principle, Republicans gained ground after it was implemented in GA and NJ.
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) September 20, 2023
So turn it into a positive. I can assure you that crying about it isn’t going to help.
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