California's health exchange to serve as voter registration hub

Sacrament Bee ^ | 5/21/13 | Jim Sanders

[Nachum]

Millions of Californians who contact the state's new health exchange to buy insurance will be given the opportunity to register to vote, too, a move that some Republicans fear could benefit Democrats.

Secretary of State Debra Bowen made California the first state to designate its health exchange as a voter registration agency Wednesday, but others are expected to follow suit, said Shannan Velayas, Bowen's spokeswoman.

"This is about making sure that all eligible Californians are offered the chance to register to vote," Velayas said Thursday.

A 1993 federal law requires states to designate their agencies and offices that provide public assistance or disability services as voter registration agencies, Velayas said.

The federal law commonly is known as "motor voter" because it ensured that applicants for drivers' licenses nationwide would be asked if they wanted to register to vote.

[Brad from Tennessee]

[Can we get the NRA and Gun Stores and Shows as Voter Registration sites? Seriously.]

Yes. This varies from state to state but there are all kinds of political entities (Acorn for one) that go door-to-door and register voters. When I moved to Colorado in 1980 I registered at the grocery store through a League of Women Voters volunteer. The gun stores and gun shows is a great idea. I'm sure there are other venues where conservatives also congregate like NASCAR and local races, shooting ranges, bait and tackle stores.

[uncitizen]

Yep, if someone registers something other than D will they get lesser quality healthcare or have to wait longer, etc...