Make voting easier

The Oct. 22 Herald editorial, “Securing the right to vote,” makes an erroneous assumption about registering to vote: That it’s easy for everyone.

For people in stable living situations, registering to vote and keeping that registration up to date can be simple. But for many — military families who move a lot; young working parents; and new voters — it’s not as easy. Automatic voter registration gives working families a break by reducing unnecessary extra paperwork and integrating voter registration into the places they are more likely to go.

And modernizing our system with AVR isn’t some unusual idea. Ten states — both red states like Georgia, and blue states like California — have already adopted AVR.

The Massachusetts AVR legislation also adds to the security and accuracy of our elections by requiring Massachusetts to join the Electronic Registration Information Center. ERIC compares voter registration information from 21 member states with other national and state databases, to ensure that only eligible voters are on the voting rolls and no one is registered more than once.

Automatic voter registration will modernize and add to the security to our elections while increasing voter participation. That’s a win-win-win for all of us. — Pam Wilmot, executive director, Common Cause Massachusetts, Boston