Lawmakers Hear Testimony On Online Voter Registration At Informational Hearing

Experts Tell Legislative Panel That Online Registration Is Cheap, Secure

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Proponents of online voter registration say that it's cheap and secure. Photo: William Hook (CC-BY-SA).

Several national experts told a panel of state lawmakers at an informational hearing on Tuesday that online voter registration was a cheaper, more secure way to run elections.

While the Legislature has already adjourned for the year, the hearing was a good sign that lawmakers may revisit the issue of online voter registration next session. If they do, they’d have plenty of models to choose from: Eighteen states offer online voter registration, including Arizona, where Tammy Patrick is an election official in the state’s largest county.

“Online registration really does save tax dollars because the voter is doing the work for us,” said Patrick.

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She said that in her county, it costs election workers $0.83 to process every paper registration form. It costs just $.03 when voters register online.

Attorney Ben Ginsburg, who worked for the Bush-Cheney campaign during the 2000 recount, said online registration has improved the accuracy and the security of voter rolls.

“The security of the online systems in states that have it has not been breached,” said Ginsburg. “Online security is always a worry, but so is the person on a street corner who’s collecting registration forms. So is having all your voter registration records kept in garages. That is not a pristine security system either.”

David Becker with Pew Charitable Trusts told lawmakers that there’s no evidence online registration favors one political party or another. “It’s one of those rare win-wins in government that left and right can agree on that creates a variety of benefits with really no downsides,” he said.

Becker, Ginsburg and Patrick were all invited to speak by Assembly Elections Committee Chairwoman Kathy Bernier, a Chippewa Falls Republican who says she’s interested in the issue.

The idea has its skeptics, including Rep. Jeremy Thiesfeldt, R-Fond du Lac.

“I guess for myself here, I have a hard time getting over the discomfort of not knowing that that person is who they actually say are,” said Thiesfeldt.

Thiesfeldt also questioned how Wisconsin would continue to offer registration online and in-person on Election Day, but experts testified that there was no reason to think the two were mutually exclusive.