Shapiro enacts automatic voter registration for Pennsylvanians registering at DMV

Pennsylvania will now automatically register voters when they obtain driver’s licenses and official identification cards at state branches of the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Gov. Josh Shapiro announced the new autonomic voter registration for Pennsylvania residents that goes into effect Tuesday. Pennsylvania residents who obtain or renew their driver’s license or ID cards are automatically registered to vote, unless they choose to opt out of the process.

Shapiro, a Democrat from Montgomery County, said state residents provide proof of identity, residency, age and citizenship at the DMV, so it makes sense to make registering to vote more streamlined since they are already providing the same verification.

“Automatic voter registration is a commonsense step to ensure election security and save Pennsylvanians time and tax dollars,” he said in a release.

We’re joining the bipartisan group of automatic voter registration states — and in the first year alone, we expect tens of thousands of eligible voters will get registered to vote.

— Governor Josh Shapiro (@GovernorShapiro) September 19, 2023

The policy switched up the former process at the DMV, when residents were asked if they wanted to opt into registering to vote as they were filling out paperwork for driver’s licenses or IDs.

Pennsylvania joins 23 other states that have implemented automatic voter registration policies. Bipartisan leaders from states including Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia and West Virginia have passed similar laws in recent years.

The governor’s office said the effort aims to help increase voter participation and ensure that voter rolls contain more accurate and up-to-date information on voters. As of December 2022, 8.7 million Pennsylvanians were registered to vote out of more than 10.3 million who are eligible, according to a news release.

Some in Republican leadership voiced some criticism of the move. House Minority Leader Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster, said in a statement that any voter registration changes should have occurred through legislation in the General Assembly, not through executive action.

“The problem here is not necessarily the end, but the means,” Cutler said. “This unilateral action on the eve of what is likely to be a hotly contested and close election will cause many Pennsylvania voters to continue to question the security and results of our system.”