Automatic Voter Registration Considered in Springfield

Jim Anderson -- Illinois Radio Network

There's a proposal in Springfield to make voter registration come automatically whenever somebody gets a driver's license or a state ID.

State Sen. Andy Manar (D-Bunker Hill) is one of the sponsors. He says a problem the legislation is aimed at solving is the change of address, which would be updated for voting purposes once it's updated on a driver's license.

"When someone changes their address, oftentimes they don't remember to update their voter information, so when they go to vote, they're oftentimes denied the right to vote, or they have to go through extra paper work at the time in order to achieve that. This bill would eliminate that," he said.

He's pitching this on government efficiency grounds too -- only one office handling the registration updates, instead of a separate trip required to the county clerk or election commission office.

He says the standards for proving one's identity, age and address are higher for a license at the secretary of state's office than they are for voter registration. The only catch is that a legal U.S. resident who's not a citizen can get a driver's license, but can't vote.

State Sen. Daniel Biss (D-Evanston) is also behind this. They do not expect to pass this bill this session.