By Rosa Rice-Pelepko
This is the first in a weekly series of reports from AS Legislative Liaison Rosa Rice-Pelepko as she lobbies in Olympia for Western Students.
Did you you vote in the last election? If you didn’t, was it because it seemed a little too complicated at the time?
Good news: some very committed elected leaders are committed to changing that. This legislative session, advocates and legislators are working to make our voting system as accessible as possible for all eligible voters.
Two proposals this year are Automatic Voter Registration (HB 2595 & SB 6353) and Same-Day Registration (HB 2297 & SB 6021). Automatic Voter Registration and Same-Day Registration would help more students to participate in elections. In the 2016 general elections, Washington saw an overall turnout of 37.1 percent — the lowest rate in years. Our election system should do everything it can to encourage people to vote, and that starts with getting them registered.
Automatic Voter Registration would implement voter registration processes at qualified state agencies like the DOL. When interacting with an agency, you would be automatically registered to vote unless you opt out. Same Day Voter Registration would extend the current deadline to 8 p.m. on election day.
For busy students and many other Washingtonians, the registration process can be overly complicated. The current 29 day deadline for voter registration forms is too far in advance, and many eligible voters don’t realize there’s a deadline until it’s too late. This deadline also coincides with the first week and a half of Western’s fall quarter start date. For this reason, the Associated Students and Western Votes dedicate this short period of time to registering as many voters as possible. Despite our best efforts, we’re not able to reach everyone, which means many students don’t get to make their voices heard in the upcoming election.
Case in point: last year, in the week following the state’s registration deadline, we were asked to help a student register to vote and change their address. We were able to help the student out, but they were disappointed to find out they were too late to vote.
With our combined voices, the students of Western could have a real impact on local elections. To those who say students are transient and shouldn’t vote in local elections: Western students play a vital part in this community and should be able weigh in on the decisions that impact our lives. These registration solutions will help not only students, but all eligible Washingtonians participate in our democracy. We all know that our democracy is better off when every vote is counted, and these proposals are just two ways to make the voting process more accessible and invite as many young people as possible to participate in elections.
Contact your legislators today in support of these bills. Never underestimate how much impact a phone call or email can make from a constituent! Sign up for our Legislative Action Alerts at tinyurl.com/WWUaction to be updated with how you can get involved in the legislative process.