With support from the state’s local election officials, Florida now joins more than two-dozen other states and the District of Columbia in offering the opportunity to register to vote online. Project Vote was proud to join our partners in the effort to pass online registration in Florida by providing research an technical assistance.
The bill (SB 228/Chapter 2015-36) will allow applicants with a driver’s license or state ID to submit voter registration applications online beginning October 2017. The bill utilizes the electronic signature on file with the motor vehicles department to process the applications, as long as the voter applicants’ names match their DMV records. If the information does not match, the system will populate the applicant’s information into a form that must be printed, signed, and delivered to the election official. The bill requires a comprehensive risk assessment before the system is publicly available.
Governor Rick Scott signed the bill with “some hesitation,” citing concerns with “cyber attacks.” Many other states, however, have successfully implemented online registration for years without issue of fraud and in fact have improved the accuracy of voter rolls.
“While these challenges exist, I am confident that the Department and the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles will act carefully and prudently in developing needed protection for citizen information,” he said. “We must do everything possible to encourage 100 percent participation in elections, with zero percent fraud.”
Florida’s SB 228 is a step in the right direction in joining the majority of states in offering online registration to citizens. With this new opportunity, more citizens may have access to voter registration and the state would generally be able to maintain more accurate voter rolls. But there is room for improvement. Ideally, online registration policies would address inequality issues that could exacerbate disparities in the electorate. Like Florida, most states require electronic signatures on file with states’ driver’s license databases, which limits online registration to people who have the privilege of possessing a driver’s license or state ID. One best practice is to allow applicants who do not have a signature on file to attest to the truth of statements in the applications using an electronic signature or mark as is done in today’s electronic consumer and real estate transactions.