​​​Nuria Martinez-Keel

In the 21st century, even voting is adapting to the digital age.

 

Oklahoma state legislators passed a bill last April to approve an online voter registration system. This online system will allow Oklahomans to register to vote online rather than filling out a paper form.

 

Oklahoma is one of 30 states that does or will soon

offer online voter registration, according to the

National Conference of State Legislatures.

 

The Oklahoma State Election Board is tasked with creating

the online system. 

 

The assistant secretary of the state election board said the

system will be ready in 2017.

 

Pam Slater said the state election board is working on the

project with the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety.

 

The online system will access driver's license records to confirm registrations

and get electronic signatures, Slater said

 

"The biggest hurdle I think is just figuring out in the real world how we interface with DPS records and obtain a copy of that signature," Slater said.

 

State Sen. David Holt was the original author of the legislation. The Republican from Oklahoma City said an online registration system will make registering easier and improve the election process.

 

“I think it will help our registration problem,” Holt said. “We have a third of Oklahomans who are not registered, and I think then it will at least serve to help our civic participation problem.”

 

Holt said he was inspired to write the bill after seeing only a fraction of Oklahomans vote in the 2014 election for governor.

 

About 825,000 people voted in this election, according to state election board data. In a state of 3.9 million people, only 21 percent of Oklahomans turned out at the polls.

 

Holt said the main goal of the online system is to help improve those low voting rates.

 

Slater said anyone who wants to register online has to have a state issued ID or license. The online system will access records from Department of Public Safety and the Department of Motor Vehicles to confirm registrations and get electronic signatures.

 

“The biggest hurdle I think is just figuring out in the real world how we interface with DPS records and obtain a copy of that signature,” Slater said.

 

However, some experts in political science have said an online registration system is not the best solution to this issue.

 

The director of Oklahoma State University’s Department of Political Science said the online system is a good step forward, but there is more legislators can do.

 

Jeanette Mendez, Ph.D., said allowing voters to register at the polls before voting will yield better results than an online system. The biggest barrier to increasing election turnout is the lack of same-day registration, Mendez said.

 

“One thing we do know about voters is if you can get them to the polling place once, you have a higher chance of getting them a second time and building up that habit,” Mendez said. “You’re more likely to do it if you can do it kind of all in one.”

 

Drawing more first-time voters, especially young people, is one of the main benefits of same-day registration, Mendez said.

 

Oklahoma and several other states require first-time voters to register at least 24 days before an election. Mendez said many people who have never voted don’t know about this rule.

 

The chief clerk at the Payne County Election Board said she often receives calls during elections from confused citizens. Valerie Bryant said she regularly hears from people who want to vote but didn’t know they needed to register far in advance.

 

The number of people who call wanting to register and vote during elections is always greater during presidential elections, Bryant said.

 

The Payne County Election Board secretary said having registration applications online would keep people from turning in incomplete or illegible forms. Alyson Dawson also agreed that an online system would attract young people.

 

"I think the younger generation will definitely utilize it more so than the older," Dawson said.

 

An Oklahoma State political science professor said the state government should connect with young people on voting and registration. Haley Murphy, Ph.D., said it’s critically important to incorporate the young voting base.

 

“The policy decisions that we make today are what we’re paying for 50 years from now, and so I think it’s very important for this generation to be voting,” Murphy said. “The policy decisions that are made today are the ones that affect you in the future and your children in the future.”

 

An online registration system can provide first-time voters with the right forms, but it won’t help if they fill them out after the 24-day deadline, Murphy said.

 

Making it easier to register is a step in the right direction, though, she said. As someone who works with young people, Murphy said using an online method can help engage them in the voting process.

 

“Honestly, with as connected as this generation is, make it easy for them to do it online, and they’re more likely to go do it,” Murphy said.

 

Research has shown that online systems have increased the number of young registrants.

The Brennan Center for Justice highlighted these results in 2015 with its research summary “The Case for Automatic, Permanent Voter Registration.” The report compiled several studies showing the benefits of voting modernization, including those among young voters.

 

Arizona was one example. After creating an online system, the state saw its registration rates for 18-24 year olds in 2004 jump from 29 percent to 48 percent, according to the research summary. Those rates rose again to 53 percent in 2008.

 

Arizona wasn’t alone in its success. A study from the California Civic Engagement Project from the University of California, Davis showed a similar change in its state's registrations.

 

California’s online registration system launched in September 2012, just in time for the presidential election in November. After the system became available, 49.5 percent of registrants age 18-24 registered online, according to the study.

 

Another 49.8 percent of non-youth registrants used the system, making online registration “the dominant method of registration (versus all non-online methods) for Californians, once implemented,” according the UC Davis study.

 

Despite this increase, people age 18-24 make up only 11.1 percent of California’s registered voters, according to the UC Davis study. Young voters are still “underrepresented compared to their share of the state’s population,” the study said.

 

California does not offer same-day registration, according to the Brennan Center.

 

An online system in Oklahoma may boost registration among the young electorate, but it doesn’t mean they will make it to the polls, Mendez said.

 

“I think they’ll be drawn to this online registration system, but I just still don’t know if it’s going to translate into making voting easy,” Mendez said. “Same-day (registration) is always going to trump getting the new voters into the system.”

 

Holt said he wants to continue election reform in Oklahoma even after the online system launches. The state should not require new voters to register 24 days before an election, he said.

 

Instead, Holt said he proposed registration as late as the early voting period. People could register and vote in the same day if they went to the early polls, Holt said.

 

“I think we can continue to modernize the voting process,” Holt said. “There’s a lot we can do to simplify the process and make it more conducive to participation by the modern, busy Oklahoman.”