• WoodScientist@lemmy.world
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    28 days ago

    Voter registration is still complety pointless. Why do you even need to register to vote? Sure, it’s location-based, but you should just be able to show up to the polls with your drivers license which lists your address.

    Why does it need to be a completely separate thing? This is just a method to suppress the vote.

    • dave881@lemmy.world
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      28 days ago

      There is probably a valid argument about the managing the logistics of poling places to be made here.

      Jurisdictions need to know how many ballots, poll workers, and polling locations they need to actually run the election.

      Registration also helps to determine what proportion of the electorate turned out. This can give hints to how well information about the time and place of elections was advertised and whether polling places were open long enough or at enough locations to give people the opertunity to vote.

      The way in which registration is handled in a given jurisdiction can absolutely be designed to suppress votes.

      • Hapankaali@lemmy.world
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        28 days ago

        There is probably a valid argument about the managing the logistics of poling places to be made here.

        Is there? Never had to register to vote, never had to walk more than a few minutes to the polling place, never had to wait more than a few minutes to cast the vote. These are not unique experiences, but simply what everyone expects in any functional democracy.

        • evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.world
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          27 days ago

          When you cast a vote, how do they know you are eligible to vote there? The answer is that you registered at some point, though they may not have called it that

          • Hapankaali@lemmy.world
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            27 days ago

            Yes of course, just not in a separate step. Every legal resident is automatically registered to vote.

              • Hapankaali@lemmy.world
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                27 days ago

                If you want to migrate here legally, you will have to apply for permanent or temporary residency. You will be registered to vote (insofar as you would be eligible to cast them) as soon as you do.

                • evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.world
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                  27 days ago

                  So the difference in the US is if you move to a different voting area, there’s nothing requiring you to report your location to the government, so they would have no way of knowing that you live there.