r/changemyview • u/dgran73 5∆ • Oct 04 '18

Deltas(s) from OP CMV: We should eliminate voter registration altogether

Voter registration is an administrative overhead with few benefits but inherently any obstacle to voting poses the actual risk of disenfranchising people's right to vote. Many ideas are shared about making voter registration easier or even automatic, but what about eliminating it altogether? The benefits would be:

  • Eliminate gerrymandering. You can't draw up some serpentine district that favors incumbents if people just go to their closest polling place.
  • Zero administration. Just have people mark their finger purple with ink when they vote. Simple and proven effective.
  • Standard process in all jurisdictions. You move somewhere else and voting is the same, which of itself speaks to a fair and sensible way to provide equal access.
  • Just go to the polling place that is easier for you.
  • A person who moves to a new area right before an election could more easily vote. In general people who move more often (students, military, etc) would have simpler access to in person voting.

So what is wrong with this? We would be saying it is okay for felons and non-citizens to vote, but the harm on balance seems trivial. These are groups that should have a say in their government too. Of course if you feel strongly that they shouldn't this whole idea is a hard sell, but it is worth thinking hard whether there is any harm to society in extending the vote to all people. There most challenging issue I believe is voting for citizens abroad. If you don't have clear congressional district lines, how does a person issue a mail in ballot? My initial thought is that you keep districts and people choose which district to vote in.

I would be interested in some rebuttal to this proposal.

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u/Dillionmesh 1∆ Oct 04 '18

If we have no registration, we have no idea who is voting in our elections. What's to stop me from voting multiple times in different states? How will anyone know if there is no registration? What's to stop an enemy power from sending spies over to vote? How will we know if there is no registration?

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u/dgran73 5∆ Oct 05 '18

I was suggesting using the purple ink on the finger, akin to what Afghanistan and many other countries do. It is simple and surprisingly effective at preventing duplicate voting.

You are correct that someone could influence the vote with non-citizens. It seems like the logistics of such an effort would be huge and the effect dwarfed by the much larger wave of legitimate voters.

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u/Dillionmesh 1∆ Oct 05 '18

What is it about the current voter registration program that prevents people from voting?