Column: Automatic voter registration: Poll worker knows it’s a winner

Hawaii’s automatic voter registration (AVR) bill has one more hurdle to pass: It needs to be heard by the Finance Committee chaired by Rep. Sylvia Luke. We hope she will schedule a hearing for it.

The revised version of the bill now provides for eligible persons to opt-in for automatic voter registration when they apply for or update their Hawaii driver’s license or state ID. Because it is optional, it allows for doing two important things at once, a benefit to all voters. As a volunteer election worker, I saw firsthand how AVR could alleviate some problems both voters and election volunteers face.

I decided to volunteer in my community as part of my personal grieving process after my husband died. Two activities interested me: assisting elderly persons get “out and about,” attending to essential tasks such as renewing their state IDs and helping with elections.

Initially as a poll worker, I worked the front line at my precinct verifying IDs, later at the next level, assisting with voter issues. Frontline workers check voter identification with official precinct election books, issue ballots, and direct voters to open voting stations. These steps required time, energy, respect and patience with each voter.

Many people want to vote but may not have registered or updated their information, such as their address. Fortunately, Hawaii allows these voters to cast provisional ballots and in 2018 implemented same-day voter registration. As a frontline worker, I sent such voters to the next authorized person to help them register and vote provisionally. In 2018, I was that “next” person. Here I needed to collect all ID information, call Election Central to verify the information, then issue the ballot. It was no surprise that this took time, with a significant number of people needing this help.

Looking back, I see how useful the AVR process would have been, especially now that Hawaii has gone to all mail-in balloting. It is such a sensible option, emphasis on option, enabling citizens to do two things at once: renew their ID and register to vote.

When you renew the ID, you must produce all the documentation to prove who you are. Your photo is taken, and your verifying information is scanned into the system. A simple transfer of that information to the Elections Office would ensure the citizen is ready to vote in following elections. But if you decline to have that done, the DMV will respect your wishes and no information will be transmitted. One would hope that few voters would decline because the health of our democracy depends not just on having the right to vote but being ready and willing to exercise that right with every election.

As a poll worker and someone who assists elderly, AVR seems a “no brainer.” It eases the work of the Elections Office, provides accurate voter information, is convenient, saves time and energy, is secure, and cost efficient. In the state’s current dire financial situation, why would we turn down the opportunity to save an estimated million dollars per election cycle?

It’s time we joined the more than 20 states and the District of Columbia in passing and implementing automatic voter registration. The insurrection of Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol should only make us more determined to preserve our democracy and ensure accessibility to the vote for everyone.

Rosemary Casey, a returned Peace Corps Volunteer, lives in Honolulu, and has volunteered for Catholic Charities Hawaii.