New law allows residents online voter registration
>>Print ViewPublication Date: 05/18/2009
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Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels signed House Bill 1346 into law May 11, allowing the launch of a voter registration Web site by July 1, 2010.
The Web site will allow Indiana residents with a valid state driver’s license or identification card to fill out and submit a voter registration form online. Users can currently download and print a form, but must fill it out by hand and mail it to the voting commission.
William McLauchlan, associate professor of political science, believes that being able to register online will increase the number of registrations – for some segments of the population.
“You may get more people registered among younger age groups and won’t have much difference in other age ranges for the simple reason that the older a person is, the less likely they are to be comfortable with and to have access to the Internet,” said McLauchlan.
Students from states that already have online voter registration think this could be helpful to students, especially Indiana students that attend schools out-of-state.
“I did it back in the day at the post office and haven’t changed since,” said Sarah Killer, a recent graduate from the College of Liberal Arts who is registered to vote in Arizona. “But I would (register to vote online).”
However, McLauchlan sees one major problem with the plan.
“I can’t imagine how you would register to vote online and prevent fraud,” he said.
Despite such concerns, however, the bill was adopted nearly unanimously in both the House and the Senate, with two non-votes in each and no dissenting votes.