On Politics: Even as GOP states contort voting laws, Hawaii does right with automatic voter registration

Fueled by the ridiculous claims that former President Donald Trump won reelection, Republican-controlled state legislatures want to make sure that in the 2022 election, the GOP will win a real majority.

If you look at the demographics, the Republicans represent a shrinking proportion of the voters — high-school-educated white males. Young voters and voters of color are going with the Democrats. The only break appears to be with new surveys showing the GOP winning Hispanic-American voters.

For Republicans to win as a minority party, it must mount an all-out effort to twist and distort state voting laws by making it difficult for likely Democratic voters to actually vote.

In the South, Republicans are limiting the use of ballot drop-boxes. In Houston for instance, GOP Gov. Greg Abbott cut the 12 places to drop absentee ballots to just one. If Houston were a state, it would be the 25th-largest by population.

In Georgia, Arizona and Florida, the GOP is pushing to shorten voting hours, block early and mail-in voting and question scores of legitimately cast ballots.

According to a Washington Post report, “14 states had enacted 22 laws with provisions that create new hurdles to vote, and another 61 such bills were still advancing in 18 states.”

In this Republican-led charge against democracy, it is encouraging to say this is one case where Hawaii’s state Legislature is getting it right.

The Legislature passed the enabling provisions needed to put its automatic voting registration law in effect.

The measure makes an application for voter registration part of all state identification and driver’s license applications. It also ensures that changes to names and addresses of people already registered to vote are automatically updated unless the person declines.

So if Gov. David Ige signs the bill into law, when you get a driver’s license, you will be registered to vote.

After some false starts and the usual legislative dithering, automatic voter registration (AVR) became a “motherhood bill” for the 2021 Legislature; it enjoyed nearly unanimous support among community, social interest and labor groups. Hawaii was not a leader in the move. Already 20 states have passed AVR laws.

In written testimony, the public teachers union said it “will modernize our voter registration system to make it more accurate and secure. It will make our voter rolls more accurate and secure by helping to keep them updated. With our vote-by-mail system enhanced by automatic voter registration, ballots will then be mailed to people’s current, correct addresses.”

The League of Women Voters said: “Automatic voter registration is also cost-effective. It has been estimated that it would save approximately $1 million statewide in each election cycle.”

Coupling voter registration with universal mail-in balloting puts Hawaii among the leaders in progressive voter-friendly voting.

There are many critical issues that Hawaii’s Legislature managed to fumble, ignore or misunderstand. So when it gets one right, it should be applauded.

Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays. Reach him at 808onpolitics@gmail.com.