FairVote’s chair John B. Anderson, the former presidential candidate
and Republican U.S. House Member, urged Rhode Island governor Donald
Carcieri to sign HB 8022. Rep. Edwin Pacheco’s legislation to allow
young adults who “pre-register” to vote upon turning 16 be automatically
registered to vote when they turn 18.
“We have an obligation to bring our young people smoothly into the
voter rolls and introduce them to the responsibilities of citizenship,”
said Congressman Anderson. “This bill is a sensible change that will
make it easier for all young people to register to vote in high school,
when obtaining a learner’s permit and on-line.”
Anderson and FairVote’s executive director Rob Richie had joined Rep.
Pacheco, Secretary of State candidate Guillaume de Ramel and other
backers of the legislation upon its introduction in the Rhode Island
legislature in April. Richie and de Ramel first met and discussed the
proposal at a February meeting of the National Association of
Secretaries of State in Washington, D.C.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau less than 60% of American citizens
aged 18-24 were registered to vote in the 2004 elections despite most
of them recently having been in a high school setting.. FairVote’s Rob
Richie commented, “Higher registration rates are a crucial factor in
achieving greater voter participation and a more representative and
efficient democracy. A pre-registration process also would go well with
high school classroom presentations where students would register to
vote and learn how to vote in their community. Studies show such
presentations boost immediate and long-term participation of newly
eligible voters.”
Rhode Island would join Hawaii as the only states to allow
pre-registration, but FairVote has witnessed rapidly growing interest
in the proposal in the wake of a commentary in the New York Times on
April 6 by Congressman Anderson and Ray Martinez III, who is vice-chair
of the Election Assistance Commission..
FairVote is a non-partisan, non-profit organization acting to transform
our elections to achieve unfettered access to participation, a full
spectrum of meaningful choices and majority rule with fair
representation and a voice for all.
More information on the bill can be found at
www.fairvote.org/righttovote. To seek comment on these issues call
FairVote Communications Director Ryan O’Donnell by phone at work at
(301) 270-4616, at home at (413) 335-9824 or by email at
[email protected].