Posted on 07/27/2006 9:06:57 AM PDT by Spiff
Having worked at a polling place as a Chief of Precinct, I've though for a while that this idea is a fantastic way to reduce fraud in our electoral system.
The government doesn't have a problem telling people they need to take time out of their day to get their car inspected, or show up at the Department of Motor Vehicles to take care of a new car purchase. In fact, the government doesn't hesitate a bit to require us to use our time to comply with their regulations.
For a civic action like voting, something which should be cherished and held to a high standard, the least we should ask is that the voter travel to the voter registration office and fill out the paperwork once every two years.
Those mandatory purges would be a great way to fix the problems with stale records that don't get removed when people move or change their name, or die. With modern technology, it could be done very efficiently.
One thing that needs to be ended quickly is the motor voter laws that allow people to register while they get motor vehicle services. In my state (Virginia), there are many instances where that paperwork isn't forwarded to the county election board and it no doubt leaves another avenue for fraud open.
When I first registered, I made the effort to go to my local voter registration office in my county, filled out my paperwork and got on the voter rolls. As a matter of civic duty, I would have no problem with having to do that every 2 years, or every year for that matter. For those who don't bother, well, I don't think I want them voting anyway.
It is even quite possible with modern technology to make web renewal or even registration possible but very unlikely that those who do not understand encryption and cryptography to trust. I therefore think that a web based registration is far off.
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