Committee OK's online voter registration trial in Yolo County

Bill would allow test of online registration for U.C. Davis students, faculty and staff

SACRAMENTO– Legislation by Assemblywoman Lois Wolk (D-Davis) to allow Yolo County to create a pilot project for online voter registration passed out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee today.

Assembly Bill 2191 would allow Yolo County, in coordination with the Secretary of State, to conduct a pilot program for the November 2006 General Election permitting current voters the opportunity to reregister to vote through an online system.

“My bill will provide students, faculty, and staff at UC Davis the opportunity to change their voter registration information with the click of a mouse, using a secure connection,” said Wolk. “The population of U.C. Davis is constantly in flux, with people moving throughout the school year. In the midst of these moves, voter reregistration routinely falls through the cracks and these voters are lost to the system. AB 2191 will help prevent that.”

The purpose of AB 2191 is to fully research the security, effectiveness, and efficiency of submitting voter registration information online. The bill would utilize a secure internet channel from U.C. Davis to the Yolo County Registrar of Voters, to transmit voter registration information. The voter will be required to provide a signature at the polling site on Election Day.

Among those to testify in support of the bill were Brian Rivas with the University of California, who called the pilot “an excellent opportunity to take a look at using technology to streamline voter registration.”

Also testifying was Brian McInnis, a senior at U.C. Davis, who previously led a successful effort to set up an early voting precinct on campus.

“We have the resources, we have the technology and we have the funding to move this forward,” said McInnis, who has been involved in the online voter registration project from the outset.

“I believe we should do whatever we can to make sure voters remain active and engaged,” said Wolk. “We have new technologies at our disposal to increase voter participation seamlessly, fairly, and securely. AB 2191 ensures that as the technological infrastructure of California rapidly advances, our state will strive for greater efficiency while continuing to diligently protect the elections process.”

AB 2191, which will next be heard on the Assembly Floor, is supported by the California Secretary of State Bruce McPherson, the Yolo County Clerk-Recorder, The University of California system, and the University of California, Davis, and the University of California Student Association.