They could make it easier, though!
I am Rebecca Zimmermann, the Community Engagement Director at Arkansas Advocates. I think a lot about voting rights, superheroes, and many other random things throughout the day, which is what led me to write this National Voter Registration, let’s call it, policy-comic-blog.
It’s no secret that voting rights have been under major attack the last several years. Efforts to make it harder to vote absentee, giving increased power to partisan election officials to challenge results, putting fewer polling locations in neighborhoods where voters live, making it harder to get measures on the ballot, and more. But not all our challenges to voting rights are new. Some are older and a result of, not only politics, but also—dah dah dah!!!! Bureaucracy! The old government red tape. The sometimes-glacial pace of government reforms.
In 2002, Arizona became the first state in the country to adopt online voter registration. Over the past couple decades, almost all states have followed suit. And to make sure people who register online are who they say they are, states compare their voter registration information with information provided when people got their driver’s license or other government issued ID. It’s a pretty straightforward process that many Americans have now used to register to vote. But Arkansas is not one of the 42 states that has online voter registration.
It wasn’t until 2021 that the Arkansas General Assembly seriously considered adopting online voter registration. The bill, HB 1517, was sponsored by two Republican legislators who, after being lobbied by a Girl Scout, decided to propose the legislation. The bill passed the House and failed in the Senate. Despite not passing, the bill had still garnered majority support in both chambers and was in a good position to be seriously considered again during the next session. But as misinformation and lies around the 2020 election continued to gain more and more traction across the country, the political headwinds turned against online voter registration in Arkansas. And when the bill was considered again in 2023, it didn’t even make it out of committee. Hopefully, the legislature will again consider adopting online voter registration during the 2025 General Assembly session, but it will take concerted advocacy by many dedicated Arkansans to make it a reality.
But let’s talk about what you can do today—right now! It’s National Voter Registration Day!
If you are already registered to vote, make sure your voter registration information is up to date! Go to Arkansas VoterView to make sure your address and everything is correct. If you’ve moved or your name has changed, you’ll need to update it.
If you aren’t registered to vote, you can print off the voter registration form in English or in Spanish. If you want to have it in on time for the November election, it will need to be postmarked/mailed by October 7 or delivered in-person to your County Clerk’s office by October 7.
And this November 5…
