Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro announced on Sept. 19 that the state is moving to an automatic voter registration system (AVR), in which PA residents will automatically be registered to vote when they renew or apply for a driver’s license or a state ID. Twenty-four states and the District of Columbia have already implemented the program, and Pennsylvania has been the newest addition.
“Automatic voter registration is a common-sense step to ensure election security and save Pennsylvanians time and tax dollars” Governor Shapiro announced. “Residents of our Commonwealth already provide proof of identity, residency, age and citizenship at the D.M.V.—all the information required to register to vote—so it makes good sense to streamline that process with voter registration.”
To qualify for the AVR, one must live in Pennsylvania for at least 30 days and be over the age of 18 before the closest election, the process similar to regular voter registration.
This decision has been criticized by Republicans, most notably former President Donald Trump. Trump claims that the move to AVR will harm Republicans in the 2024 elections, and that PA moving to the new system is “cheating.” Others have denounced the move because Shapiro utilized executive action instead of going through the legislative process.
Another question with the implementation of the Automatic Voter Registration is whether this system is actually helpful.
An NBC report shows that 42 percent of Americans say that they would rather wait in a busy airport than have to wait in the DMV’s line—a true testament to how much Americans dislike the Department of Motor Vehicles. With Pennsylvania rated near the bottom 25 in the country’s DMV rankings, the question remains of how much more efficient the process will become.
In relation to Spring-Ford, sophomore Abby Gabr believes that Automatic Voter Registration is important because it gives everybody their chance to vote that might not have been previously available. Gabr did add, however, that AVR has no impact on her directly since she had already planned on registering as soon as she possibly can.
Additionally, current senior and prospective 2024 voter Emily Rutz also says that AVR makes no personal impact on her decisions as she does not intend on getting her driver’s license any time soon so being able to register while at the DMV makes no difference to her.
