I have written this oped for the LA Times. A snippet:

It is easy to praise Democrats for taking the high road, but let’s not lose sight of partisan motivations on both sides: Conservatives and liberals alike believe that making registration and voting easier helps Democrats because constituencies that lean blue — including the poor and racial minorities — tend to have lower participation rates. One study found that unregistered voters would have favored President Obama over Mitt Romney by 73% to 27% in the 2012 election.

That said, where you live should not affect your ability to register and vote in a federal election. Why should a Californian have a much easier time voting for president than a North Carolinian?

The best solution would be to nationalize our election process. We should have uniform standards for elections, automatic registration with anti-fraud checks and national voter identification provided by the federal government.

But I am not naive, and I do not expect a national overhaul of the election system any time soon. The same partisan forces that have led to the emergence of red-state election law and blue-state election law have blocked room for partisan compromise in Congress. Many Republicans abhor automatic registration and other means to make it easier to vote, and many Democrats are wary of anti-fraud checks. Further, state election officials don’t want to give up their grip on power.