Rev up ‘motor voter’

System’s recurring issues need attention

The cries of fraud emanating from the 2020 presidential contest’s losing candidate have been revealed, again and again, in the nation’s courts of law to be little more than petulance unsupported by facts. Or it might be even worse: a calculated campaign that is aggressively separating his supporters from their money while he’s still in a position to do that.

Meanwhile, the courts have been clear: Every election has its flaws, those anomalies reflective of any human endeavor of such a massive scale. In every national election, one can usually find an example of an election worker who handled an issue poorly or a voting precinct that had a breakdown of technology or a person who thought he was registered who then discovers he’s not when he’s trying to cast a ballot.

Even national elections in the United States are local affairs because the logistics of collecting and tabulating votes is still very much decentralized. To find the folks responsible for running elections in Arkansas, all it takes is a visit to county government. The state’s elections are coordinated by the Arkansas Secretary of State’s Office, but they are carried out through the efforts of bipartisan election commissions in all 75 of the state’s counties.

By the time campaign seasons roll around, election commissions and their hired staff have been planning and preparing for months. As soon as one election is over, work begins on the next along with any special elections local or state governments call. Ask any election coordinator and we’re sure they’ll suggest that every election — especially the big ones like we just had on Nov. 3 — is an opportunity to learn from errors, mistakes and successes and apply the lessons so the next election runs more smoothly.

Our experience is the people on the front lines of preparing for and running elections take them more seriously than just about anyone else. They understand the deserved scrutiny the process will be under. They understand accountability and accuracy. They value free and fair elections perhaps more so than the average person and certainly more so than a bellyaching candidate who lost fair and square.

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As we note, however, elections are not perfect endeavors. That’s why the process and the resulting numbers are checked and cross-checked. That’s why votes cast electronically are back up with printed ballots. And that’s why election commissions conduct post-mortems after elections, to discern ways the process can be better.

And there appears to be one problem that rears its head here in Arkansas in every major election, according to officials in Benton and Washington counties. It’s known by the catchy if not very descriptive term of “motor voter.” That stems from the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which was designed to make registering to vote an easier proposition.

On the surface, it did. When an Arkansan goes to the local office of the

Department of Finance and Administration — often known colloquially as the revenue office or the DMV — for a transaction related to a driver’s license, they’re asked whether they want to register to vote or if they need to change the address on their existing voter registration. If they say “yes,” the state agent takes down the needed information, that’s compiled and sent electronically each day to the Arkansas Secretary of State’s Office.

Since January, more than 100,000 Arkansans have said “yes” at the revenue office.

On Nov. 3, however, several people in Washington County were forced to cast provisional ballots — ones to be counted after some discrepancy about the voter’s eligibility is cleared up. These folks told election officials they registered at the DMV, but their names did not show up on the voter rolls maintained by the Washington County Clerk’s Office.

It’s a recurring issue, everyone agrees. Washington County Election Commission member Max Deitchler called it an embarrassment that Arkansans cannot rely on the system.

“This is a fundamental failure of government,” he said at a recent commission meeting. “I’ve been on the commission for six years, and this happens every single election cycle that people register at the DMV and show up to vote and told they’re not registered.”

A spokesman for the Department of Finance and Administration said the issue isn’t “widespread” and most people who choose the motor voter option will show up on the voter registration rolls.

Which is comforting, except for those people the system failed.

“Every time we have poll worker training, somebody asks if this problem has been fixed yet,” said Jennifer Price, the election coordinator in Washington County.

Is anyone asking that question in the Department of Finance and Administration and at the Secretary of State’s Office? Or does it happen each election cycle, only to fade back into the bureaucracy?

The information provided motorists advise them to follow up with their local county clerk to confirm their registration. That’s wise advice, indeed. Let the voter beware and all that. If anyone knows anything about interactions with government, it’s to get a receipt and follow up.

But the state shouldn’t shrug off the recurring issues, either. Even if it’s a mandated function, the two state agencies involved ought to take ownership of making the system fully reliable.

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As demonstrated by the president’s litigation over what has amounted to small, routine election issues across the country, every little glitch can become the molehill portrayed as a mountain by politicians and lawyers driven by something other than the well-being of our republic.

It’s incumbent on everyone involved to address any cracks in the system. Making registration easy is an admirable effort. Making it reliable even more so.