America's First Test of Automatic Voter Registration, in Oregon, Has Mixed Results

Governing: Nearly 100,000 Oregonians who otherwise may not have voted cast ballots in the Nov. 8 election after registering to vote in the state’s new automatic voter registration program, Democratic Secretary of State Jeanne Atkins said.

Nearly 43 percent of voters who registered automatically after visiting a Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) office voted. That’s a lower rate however, than the 79 percent who registered by mail and through the secretary of state’s website.

Many states were eyeing Oregon which was the first to start automatically registering voters in an attempt to encourage more residents to vote.

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