Quote:
Originally Posted by Cimarron29414
Generally, I oppose it for the following reasons which are based on absolutely no facts. My mind is open to opposing views, I'm not set in stone on this.
1) A "voter" not informed enough to be registered is not informed on the candidates at the time to make a meaningful vote.
2) It seems these voters would be more influenced during voter registration drives (ACORN), since the vote occurs on the day of the influence.
3) Registration requires validation. The square wheels of government would not be able to create a system to validate the registrations prior to the person actually voting. Voter fraud would be a greater risk.
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1) A large majority of voters just happened to be registered because they checked a box when they got their drivers license, there is likely very little difference in how informed the voter is between those registered in advance and those that are the same day. Also there is no requirement on voters being informed. If we want there to be we better put that requirement on everyone (AKA a test on the issues prior to voting) of course this is completely illegal.
2) The whole election process is based on people being influenced. Just because you don't like who does the influencing doesn't mean you can discard their votes.
3) If you aren't registered in advance then your vote should be done as a provisional ballot that gets counted after the registration is validated. This doesn't really open up any extra room for fraud that didn't already exist. In fact I can think of one case where it would actually lesson it. For example today I could have voted in the wrong district because I was registered where I used to live. I didn't but I easily could have, especially since I drove through that area on my way to work. I'm sure many people vote for where they used to live. If there was same day registration they could vote where they currently live.
Now here are some arguments for same day registration:
1) An issue may come up within 30 days of an election that peaks a voters interest and they should be able to vote.
2) If a person is a US citizen who has not lost their right to vote then they should be legally able to vote.
3) It increases participation giving a better statistical representation of the peoples wishes.
4) Could potentially decrease election fraud (see above).