Utah lawmaker pushes for automatic voter registration

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah House lawmakers voted on Wednesday to hold off on moving forward with a proposal that would automatically register someone to vote when they sign up for a driver’s license.

Lawmakers decided during a committee meeting that they need to work out some logistical concerns surrounding residency changes before they can proceed.

Bill sponsor Republican Rep. Stephen Handy said the proposal is aimed at improving Utah’s low voter turnout rate. He said many people already think they are automatically registered to vote when they get a driver’s license.

For decades, Utah has had one of the lowest voter turnout rates in the nation, said Mark Thomas, the state’s elections director. Last year, the state saw a significant uptick in the rate, but it still had fewer ballots cast than more than half of all U.S. states.

“We feel good that we’re increasing, but we’re nowhere near where we want to or should be,” he said.

Thomas said he expects the proposal to help voter turnout and long voting lines, as fewer people may have to register to vote on Election Day.

Only a few other states have passed similar legislation, including California and Oregon. After the legislation was enacted in Oregon, it took about four months for the state to add nearly 52,000 voters, more than double what it had normally seen during an entire year.

Utah currently has an opt-in program, in which a person can choose to register to vote when they’re getting a driver’s license.

Brian McKenzie, chief deputy clerk auditor with Davis County, said during the meeting that only about one-third of people who got a driver’s license last year also opted to register to vote.

He said the proposal could make the voter registration process more efficient, as fewer people may wait until the last minute before an election to register to vote. It may help to “spread out the voter registration over the year,” said McKenzie.