Common Cause Praises Raimondo for Signing Automatic Voter Registration Act
Thursday, July 20, 2017
Governor Gina Raimondo signed the automatic voter registration legislation into law making Rhode Island the ninth state to move adopt the strategy.
“…Governor Raimondo took an important step today to keep our elections modern, safe and secure in Rhode Island,” said John Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island. “Having automatic voter registration will increase access to the ballot for eligible Rhode Islanders so that they can have their voice heard in the electoral process.”
As passed, RI's automatic voter registration allows eligible citizens to automatically register to vote when they interact with a state agency. Implementation of the system will begin first at the Division of Motor Vehicles and may eventually expand to additional agencies tasked with offering voter registration under the Federal Motor Voter Law.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTAccording to Common Cause, advocates celebrate the instatement of automatic voter registration into law as a positive step toward both safeguarding the state’s elections and protecting voting rights. The system takes away unnecessary red tape in the registration process to help ensure that eligible citizens are registered. In the process, it updates address information for voters that are already registered so that no one can be turned away at the polls for having an incorrect address on file.
“For almost 100 years, the League of Women Voters has worked to erase obstacles confronting access to the ballot box,” said Jane Koster, president of the League of Women Voters of Rhode Island. “Automatic voter registration is an important tool to fulfill this mission because it helps to make sure that eligible citizens are registered to vote.”
Automatic voter registration legislation was introduced at the request of Secretary of State Nellie M. Gorbea, and sponsored by Reps. David Coughlin and Raymond Johnston in the House and Sens. Gayle Goldin, William Conley, Erin Lynch Prata, Joshua Miller and Maryellen Goodwin in the Senate. A coalition of advocates supported the legislation, including Common Cause Rhode Island, Rhode Island League of Women Voters, Providence Student Union, Rhode Island Working Families Party, NAACP Providence Branch, Generation Citizen and Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless.
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