Testimony Archive

February 19, 2009

Testimony before the Ways & Means Committee

Maryland House of Delegates

HB 476 – Elective Franchise - Registration and Voting on Election Day

Position: FAVORABLE

Position:

Maryland PIRG (Public Interest Research Group) supports the passage of HB 476, which allows an amendment to be submitted to qualified voters in Maryland regarding voter registration on Election Day.      

Comments:

Maryland PIRG is a non-profit, non-partisan public interest advocacy organization with approximately 8,000 members, and we have been standing up for the public on numerous issues for over 30 years.   In our democracy, it is important to the public interest that as many of our eligible citizens are engaged in the process as possible.  Allowing qualified voters to register on Election Day is the best step that Maryland can take to increase civic participation and continue to build our democracy. 

State PIRG groups across the country have been heavily involved in voter registration since 2004.  Our student chapters created the New Voters Project, which aimed to increase turnout among young voters between the ages of 18 and 24.  Between 2004 and 2008, the New Voters Project tallied more than 700,000 new registrations. 

In Maryland, our student chapter at the University of Maryland College Park ran an effort to register 2,500 college students in the month leading up to the registration deadline in 2008.  David Bransfield, one of the students running the registration drive, spent dozens of hours registering fellow students, double checking their forms, and turning them into the registrar.  Of course, he made sure to register himself prior to the deadline, but when he got to the polls on Election Day it turned out that his application was never processed.  He and a number of other students in his same situation had to cast provisional ballots, which we know do not count toward the election unless the race is close.   

That is only one story of dozens of similar stories that occurred during our efforts to register voters last year.   Additionally, students tend to move frequently, which requires them to re-register each time.  Even with all of our student volunteers asking them each day on campus if they’re registered to vote, many of them did not realize that they needed to re-register simply because they moved down the street or to a different part of town.  When Election Day comes, many of these registered students that have moved are often either turned away at the polls or forced to cast a provisional ballot.  Young people tend to become disenfranchised with voting and civic participation when these actions occur. 

According to a survey and analysis by the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement, there is a significant correlation between students that have trust in government and the students that vote.  The data suggests that students that have a positive experience when voting tend to gain trust in government and tend to participate in future elections more frequently than those students that have a negative experience when voting.  Allowing students to register on Election Day demonstrates that the government is doing its best to ensure their voices are heard.  Building this trust with students will increase participation immediately and will help to build participation over the long term. 

Please support SB 476 and help increase civic participation in our democracy. 

Maryland PIRG