Rock the Vote Statement on Governor Brown signing SB 397, establishing online voter registration in California.
Rock the Vote President Heather Smith released the following statement on the passage of a California state law that allows for online voter registration.
“Today marks a giant step towards a more modern, updated, and secure election system in the state of California. Modernizing the voter registration process through allowing voters in California to register to vote online will increase access and eliminate unnecessary barriers for all citizens and ultimately fuel a more efficient and cost-effective system for the state.
“According to the United States Census more than 12,500 individuals turn 18 each day becoming eligible to vote, and one-third of young people will move each year requiring them to re-register. The registration process is the biggest barrier for young Americans participating in our political process and too many are left out of the process because of outdated and restrictive voter registration practices. Bringing voter registration online will make the registration process more accessible to California’s youth and facilitate greater participation in our country’s democracy.”
Over the last two decades, Rock the Vote has registered more young people to vote than any other organization. In California, this includes registering nearly 370,000 people during the 2008 election cycle and over 75,000 in 2010 midterm elections. “With the signing of this new law and the elimination of having to print, sign, and mail the voter registration form, we expect to increase those numbers exponentially as we head into the 2012 presidential election, said Smith.
About Rock the Vote | www.rockthevote.org
Rock the Vote’s mission is to engage and build political power for young people in our country. Using music, popular culture, new technologies and grassroots organizing for more than 20 years, Rock the Vote has registered more than 5 million young people, including a record- shattering 2.5 million registration downloads in the historic 2008 election. In 2010, Rock the Vote logged nearly 300,000 voter registration downloads as part of the largest midterm election outreach strategy in our organization’s history. As the tidal wave of Millennial generation voters continues to establish its power at the polls, Rock the Vote will register millions more young people and make their voices heard. In 2011, Rock the Vote is leading the charge toward making our electoral process more accesible to young people through our high school civics program, Democracy Class, by rallying young people to stop unfair registration laws, and preparing for our largest voter engagement campaign ever in 2012.