No reason not to make voting easier

When I was younger, I thought “using your voice” meant speaking up when you didn’t agree with something. Over the years, I learned there are many other ways to use your voice, and one important method is by voting. After I left home for the military, I had four different addresses just in my first year of service. Typically, military members move every two to three years, making re-registering to vote every time and on time for elections a significant headache.

Service members typically have a higher voter turnout than nonmilitary citizens, despite obstacles like re-registering to vote with each move, navigating the new state’s voting policies, and figuring out absentee ballots. And yet if we allow for a more efficient process in voter registration, the ability and potential for an even greater participation is possible. Military members and veterans play an important role in elections; ensuring we allow for a no-barrier approach to voting is imperative to ensure our military members have their voices heard. Why would people not want to find ways to enable others to participate?

I hear worries about security or that ineligible people may register. These are fair concerns, so I started looking into them. Automatic voter registration, it turns out, would make our voter rolls safer and more secure.

This is the case because people would be getting registered at government offices with strict policies and oversight. This is so much better than the old way of doing things, when people would often fill out voter registration forms by hand, and there would be inevitable mistakes as the data was entered into the voter rolls.

I never want to see our service members who fight for our right for freedom and democracy miss an opportunity to vote because of an antiquated or unnecessarily complicated process. Automatic Voter Registration eliminates barriers to voter engagement. This process automatically allows citizens to enroll to vote when they change their address or get an ID at their local Registry of Motor Vehicles office or sign up for health care. Given that this is a process most citizens and military members must do when they move, it is a twofer, creating an efficient, one stop system.

The Brennan Center for Justice reports automatic voter registration has been passed already in 10 states, with 32 states now considering similar legislation. Creating a streamlined, updated, and efficient registration for voters of Massachusetts is not only a no-brainer, but something citizens and military members would advocate for.

As American citizens, we are privileged to live in a democracy where we have elections and can vote for our representatives. Citizens around the globe often don’t have that opportunity. Witnessing this firsthand while working in other countries, and hearing stories from asylum-seekers while deployed at a refugee camp, reinforced my passion for giving everyone a voice. Let’s not lose out on this opportunity to enable everyone to exercise their right to vote.

Typically, military members move every two to three years, making re-registering to vote every time and on time for elections a significant headache.