Motor Voter Laws for Teens
In 1993, the National Voter Registration Act (commonly known as the Motor Voter Law), was signed by President Clinton. The Motor Voter Law allow for voter registration to occur in a place where most Americans spend an ungodly amount of time waiting - the DMV.
The goal of the Motor Voter Law was to increase voter registration by allowing citizens to register to vote when they renew their licenses, apply for plates, or any other activity that takes them into the offices of the DMV.
However, one area where the NVRA has failed is in the registration of teenagers. Most teenagers in the US will troop down to the DMV to pick up their first driving license sometime around the ages of 16 and 17. Unfortunately, US law notes that citizens must be 18 years old to vote, and 18 years old at the time of the election in order to register to vote (effectively, one can register before he or she is 18 so long as during the upcoming election cycle, that voter will have turned 18 on or before election day). The Motor Voter Law, designed to make it easier for people to register to vote - does nothing to help the scores of teenagers receiving their licenses for the first time. The law does not apply to them. They do not qualify because they are too young.
California is currently working on changing the way their system works, following in the footsteps of states like Florida, Louisiana, and Hawaii. AB 30 - a bill that has been passed through the California legislature (on strictly partisan lines, all Democrats voting for, all Republicans voting against) - is currently sitting on the desk of Governor Schwarzenegger, waiting to be signed.
The bill allows 17-year-old to preregister to vote at the DMV at they time they get their license. This preregistration will ensure that all new teen drivers will have the opportunity to fully use the resources of the DMV (that have been provided with federal funds through the Motor Voter Law) to register to vote while receiving their license and be able to vote in their first election once they turn 18 without having to worry about trooping down to town hall to fill out the necessary forms.
AB 30 and similar plans already in place in other states allow for the full application of the NVRA to all citizens using the DMV - young people, just like everyone else should be able to use the DMV's voter registration resources to register to vote, even if they are doing so a year or two before the election in which they will actually vote. The NVRA was designed to make the process of registering to vote easier - except, state law and procedures exclude many teenagers from pre-registering, effectively excluding them being able to register at the DMV. California should pass this law and other states should follow suit. Young people are the voices of the future- isn't it important to get them involved in politics at a young age, so that they can begin to exercise their right to vote?
