On March 24, Utah Governor Gary Herbert signed H.B. 340 (Voter Preregistration Amendments) into law. This legislation provides that citizens who are aged 16 or 17 and have resided in Utah for at least 30 days shall have the opportunity to preregister to vote so as to become automatically registered upon their eighteenth birthday. The Voter Preregistration Amendments passed by unanimous margins of 71-0 in the Utah House and 29-0 in the Utah Senate. Speaking from the House floor, bill sponsor Jon Cox (R-58) argued that “we know voter participation rates are very low among [younger voters] but those who do participate do so throughout their lifetime. If voter participation is something that we want to encourage…I do believe [this bill] can help.”
With this bill, Utah joins just 12 other states in offering a voter preregistration period to young people. Furthermore, Utah will become one of only seven states and the District of Colombia that make voter preregistration available to 16 year olds. Project Vote supports these youth preregistration programs because they provide an effective mechanism for targeting and educating young persons about the importance of voting. A 2010 study by Michael P. McDonald that analyzed the introduction of voter preregistration laws in Florida and Hawaii concluded that preregistration has “a modest positive voter turnout effect” and that youths who preregistered were two percent more likely to vote in their first eligible election than those who registered after turning eighteen.
Project Vote congratulates Utah on taking this important step towards strengthening youth participation in the political process and is hopeful that the support Utah’s preregistration bill has received will be matched for pending preregistration legislation currently under consideration in other states.