Voter Registration Goes High Tech

Bay City News—Registering to vote is catching up to the 21st century with new software to create an online registration system making its way to county election offices statewide Friday.

The software to set up a link on election home pages was sent to county offices Friday and online access is expected to be available by early September, in time for the Oct. 22 registration deadline for the Nov. 6 presidential election, said state Sen. Leland Yee's, D-San Mateo/San Francisco, spokesman Adam Keigwin.

The online registration system was put into place following passage of Yee's bill last fall. The law now mandates that the state recognize online registration as a legal method of registering to vote.

The California Secretary of State touts online voter registration now, but you need Adobe Acrobat, a printer, an envelope and stamps. 

The online system, which will be coordinated through the California Secretary of State's office, expects to offer less paper printing and less time transferring voter information into the system for election staffers.

"It's a lot easier to use," Keigwin said. "When you type in your own name, you spell it correctly."

Other human errors, many stemming from messy handwriting, will no longer be an issue, and hopefully will ameliorate registration problems on Election Day, Keigwin said.

Alameda County is expected to have the new system in place in time for voters to register for the November election, according to the Registrar of Voters Office.

Online registration is also expected to save election offices money, something San Mateo County Elections Office election manager David Tom agrees with.

"It will have many, many benefits," Tom said, including savings from lower labor costs and a more streamlined system.

"It will save us keystrokes," Tom said. Often, election staff "have to 'translate' what was written."

What do you think about the new online system? Patch us your comments in the comments section below.