More states are registering voters automatically. Here's how that affects voting.

By Robert Griffin and Paul Gronke June 16 at 6:00 AM

Late last month, the Illinois House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill that would automatically register qualified state residents to vote. If the legislation makes its way through revisions in the state Senate and is signed by Gov. Bruce Rauner (R), Illinois would join seven other states and the District of Columbia that have enacted similar provisions.

Supporters argue that the overhaul will increase voter registration and make it easier for officials to manage the voter rolls. But because automatic voter registration is still in its infancy, there is little hard data on its impact. How many people does it actually register? Do they look demographically similar to those already registered — or would they be different? And do those who are registered automatically actually vote, or is expanded registration merely symbolic?

To find out, we analyzed Oregon’s automatic voter registration system — a result of the 2015 law known as Oregon Motor Voter (OMV). We found that in less than a year, OMV registered over 270,000 new voters, and more than 98,000 of them voted in the 2016 election. Compared to citizens already registered, these automatic registrants were significantly younger and lived in places that had lower incomes, lower levels of education, more racially diverse populations and lower population densities. And while programs that register more voters are usually thought to benefit Democrats, we found that wasn’t entirely the case.

How Oregon’s automatic registration works

Like a number of states, Oregon operates its new system through the Department of Motor Vehicles. Oregon chose to make its system “opt-out,” meaning that citizens are registered to vote by default unless they choose not to be.

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