Today, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin (D) signed into law a bill to automatically and securely register eligible citizens to vote when they obtain or renew a driver’s license from the DMV, unless they opt out of registration.
Vermont’s law comes as automatic voter registration is taking off across the country. The state is the fourth in the nation to enact this reform, and the second (after West Virginia) to pass it with strong bipartisan support.
Nationally, 28 states plus the District of Columbia have considered measures this year to automatically register citizens. Oregon and California passed automatic registration in 2015, and since Oregon put its new system in place in January, registration rates have alreadyquadrupled.