The Senate will take up a same day voter registration bill this week.
S.29 would allow a town clerk to add a registrant’s name to the voter checklist during regular business hours on Election Day.
Under the legislation, eligible voters could fill out a registration form, and the presiding officer at the polls would inform them if they were approved to vote.
The Senate Government Operations Committee passed the bill in a 3-2. Sens. Jeanette White, D-Windham, Anthony Pollina, D/P-Washington, and Christopher Bray, D-Addison, voted for the bill. Sens. Brian Collamore, R-Rutland, and Joe Benning, R-Caledonia, opposed it.
Town clerks from Barre and South Burlington testified against the bill, citing a lack of broadband and concerns over voter fraud. Secretary of State Jim Condos testified in favor of S.29, citing voter participation as 7 percent to 12 percent higher in states with same-day registration.
Pollina said Monday there are about a dozen other states that let citizens register and vote on Election Day. “If those states can do it, I don’t see any reason why we can’t make it work,” Pollina said.
“I just think it’s a matter of democracy, and whether we like it or not, there are a lot of people who only tune into an election a few days before the vote,” Pollina said. “I think we should do everything possible to increase voter participation.”
Benning said last week that the time wasn’t right for the law. He doesn’t want to overwhelm town clerks or encourage voter fraud.
“The hitch is we don’t have the technology in place for all polling places to be instantly connected to the Internet,” Benning said. “That’s key for me because if you’re going to register and vote at the same time, there should be an ability for the town clerk to check immediately whether you’ve registered somewhere else.
“I don’t want to have fraudulent voting in this state, and I’m not willing to throw the baby out with the bathwater,” Benning said.
The bill requires the Secretary of State to file a report by Jan. 15, 2016, on Internet access to each polling place and the feasibility of counting absentee ballots electronically. The bill would go into effect April 1, 2016.
