Voter Registrations Are Way, Way Down During The Pandemic

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Poll after poll showed a high level of enthusiasm for voting in the general election in 2020, and in the beginning of the year, voter registration surged to match that excitement. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. New registrations have fallen off a cliff.

The spring of a presidential election year is often a busy time for adding new voters to the rolls, and a recent report from the Center for Election Innovation and Research, a nonprofit organization that aims to improve voter turnout and election security, shows registration numbers were even stronger in early 2020 than early 2016. But things changed dramatically in March, at least in the 12 places where FiveThirtyEight or CEIR were able to obtain data on new voters, a category that includes first-time voters, voters who recently moved to the state and, in some states (Texas, for example) even voters who moved between counties in the state.

Consider Florida, for example, where 109,859 new voters registered in February of this year, compared to 87,351 registrants in February of 2016. But in April 2020, only 21,031 new voters registered, compared with 52,508 in 2016. The same pattern holds in 10 other states, plus Washington, D.C.: Each one registered fewer new voters in April 2020 than in April 2016, including in states where online voter registration is available.

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Currently, 39 states plus Washington, D.C., offer the ability to register to vote online, and a 40th (Oklahoma) is expected to implement it this year. However, in the three places for which we have the relevant data (Florida, Maryland and Washington), online voter registration has not taken off during the pandemic — certainly not enough to make up for the lost in-person registrations. Even in Washington, where online registrations have ticked up since the beginning of the year, the pace is comparable to 2016: 2,956 people registered online in April and May 2020, similar to the 2,771 people who registered online in April and May 2016.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/voter-registrations-are-way-way-down-during-the-pandemic/

[Hortensis]

1. Bad. Especially is massive election tampering. On the better side,

39 states have on-line registration.

Also went and copied this, subject to some changes:

Fifteen states have a voter registration deadline 28-30 days before an election:
Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas

Eleven states have a voter registration deadline 20 to 27 days before an election:
Delaware, Kansas, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina,* Oklahoma, Oregon, Virginia, West Virginia

Four states have a voter registration deadline one to 15 days before an election:
Alabama, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, South Dakota

Nineteen states and Washington, D.C., have voter registration available on Election Day. Many also offer same-day registration and voting during the early voting period.
California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming

North Dakota does not have voter registration.

North Carolina has same-day voter registration during the early voting period but not on election day.

130 days to November 3.

[fleur-de-lisa]

2. Purging?

[diva77]

3. Yet another reason for rethugs to mishandle the pandemic.

K&R for exposure. Thanks for the post.

[diva77]

4. kick!

[diva77]

5. kick!