Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Top U.S. election official opposes  automatic voter registration

Top U.S. election official opposes  automatic voter registration

Christy McCormick, chairwoman of the Election Assistance Commission, testififying on Capitol Hill in May.

C-SPAN

The chairwoman of the Election Assistance Commission told the nation's state legislators last week that she's opposed to automatic voter registration.

Adding qualified citizens to the rolls whenever they do business with a state agency, unless they choose to opt out, has quickly become a widely accepted component of most democracy reform agendas. Eighteen states will have so-called AVR in place in time for the 2020 election after a surge of acceptance in state legislatures this decade. And the practice would be nationally mandated under HR 1, the comprehensive campaign finance, election and ethics legislation the House passed in March.

But Christy McCormick argues that registering to vote is a form of speech protected by the First Amendment and that "not registering to vote is a choice – we should respect our citizens' choices."


Rick Hasen, a law professor at the University of California Irvine, published an item about the presentation on his election law blog, saying that the presentation "raised some eyebrows" at the gathering in Nashville of the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The EAC is an advisory commission, created after the disputed 2000 election to help states improve their elections – most recently by distributing money approved by Congress for buying new voting equipment and otherwise enhancing election security.

So McCormack, a Republican who has been chairwoman for four years and was previously a top trial attorney in the voting section of the Justice Department's civil rights division, has no power to shape voter registration policy. Nonetheless, opposition to AVR from one of the top election policy officials in the federal government is notable.

In her presentation to the legislators, McCormack cited a Supreme Court case decided last year, involving a public sector employee who did not join the union because he disagreed with its political positions but was still required to pay dues. The court ruled against the union, saying requiring non-members to pay was forced speech and therefore a violation of the First Amendment.

McCormick also said that automatic voter registration does not necessarily increase turnout and that it would expose more people's voter information to be hacked. "A voter's information belongs to the voter and only to the voter, and he or she – we — should decide how we want our private information to be shared," slides for her presentation said.

In January 2017, McCormick said she did not believe claims of Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign, calling it "deceptive propaganda perpetrated on the American public."

But in an op-ed column in March, McCormick acknowledged that "in the wake of the 2016 presidential election, intelligence officials began to piece together evidence of Russian election interference."

Earlier this year, she and other commissioners pleaded for more money from Congress to help improve security for upcoming elections because of concerns over hacking.

In a statement Wednesday, McCormick said she was "specifically asked by NCSL to provide a counterpoint and share some of the challenges to implementing automatic voter registration." McCormick said she favors so-called automated registration, which often occurs at motor vehicle bureaus, in which people renewing drivers' licenses are invited to register.

"Voters should give prior consent to registering to vote for a variety of reasons, including, but not limited to, indicating political affiliation, choosing to register in a different state, or declining to register based on religious objection," she said.

Read More

Carolyn Lukensmeyer Turns 80: A Life of Commitment to “Of, By, and for the People”

Carolyn Lukensmeyer.

The National Institute for Civil Discourse and New Voice Strategies

Carolyn Lukensmeyer Turns 80: A Life of Commitment to “Of, By, and for the People”

I’ve known Dr. Carolyn Lukensmeyer for over a decade, first meeting her about a decade ago. Dr. Lukensmeyer is a nationally renowned expert in deliberative democracy, a former executive director emerita of the National Institute for Civil Discourse, and a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences’ Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship.

On the weekend of her 80th birthday, former colleagues, clients, and friends offered a look at Dr. Lukensmeyer’s extraordinary commitment to “of, by, and for the peoples,” from her earlier days in Iowa and Ohio to the present day.

Keep ReadingShow less
Public Health: Ban First, Study Later? The Growing Assault on Fluoridated Water

Someone getting tap water.

Getty Images, urbazon

Public Health: Ban First, Study Later? The Growing Assault on Fluoridated Water

On May 15, Florida became the second state in the nation to ban fluoride from public drinking water. The bill, signed by Governor Ron DeSantis, is set to go into effect on July 1. Utah’s Governor Spencer Cox enacted a similar ban that went into effect this May. Five other states—Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nebraska, and South Carolina—have introduced bills that aim to ban fluoride in public drinking water.

Fluoride is a mineral that, in small quantities, has proven to be effective against tooth decay, caused by bacteria that form in the mouth when we eat or drink. The American Academy of Pediatrics states on its website that studies have shown water fluoridation, an intentional treatment process of public drinking water, reduces tooth decay by about 25% in children and adults alike.

Keep ReadingShow less
POLL: Americans Wary About The President Taking Unconventional Actions
APM Research Lab

POLL: Americans Wary About The President Taking Unconventional Actions

Americans show a strong preference for their elected executives — governors as well as the president — to achieve their political goals through conventional, sometimes slow, procedures, according to the McCourtney Institute for Democracy’s latest Mood of the Nation Poll.

Results showed marked partisan differences. For example, 26% of all survey respondents rated a presidential action of firing all recently hired federal employees as “very appropriate,” including only four percent of Democrats and just over half of Republicans.

Keep ReadingShow less
The U.S. Is Rushing To Make AI Deals With Gulf Countries, But Who Will Help Keep Children Safe?

A child's hand holding an adult's hand.

Getty Images, LaylaBird

The U.S. Is Rushing To Make AI Deals With Gulf Countries, But Who Will Help Keep Children Safe?

As the United States deepens its investments in artificial intelligence (AI) partnerships abroad, it is moving fast — signing deals, building labs, and exporting tools. Recently, President Donald Trump announced sweeping AI collaborations with Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. These agreements, worth billions, are being hailed as historic moments for digital diplomacy and technological leadership.

But amid the headlines and handshakes, I keep asking the same question: where is child protection in all of this?

Keep ReadingShow less