Written by Nicholas Vetrisek
This fall, San Diego voters will be sent a notice to check registration status after the disastrous “motor voter” program duplicated 84,000 voter records across the state and 7,000 in San Diego alone.
The system’s intended purpose was to increase voter registration and improve election turnout. Instead, the program has forced the County to use more and more money to fix the problems it created. It’s not yet known how much it will cost to mail the notice to all of the nearly two million San Diego voters, but it will be necessary to ensure that the problems with the system are addressed, especially with the 2020 primary elections right around the corner.
San Diego had been using the national “motor voter” program for more than 20 years. It allowed DMV customers to register to vote by simply filing extra paperwork.
The new version implemented last year, however, automatically registers people getting new or updated licenses as voters unless they choose to opt-out. The launch was a complete failure and required nearly $500,000 in order to do an independent audit of the program.
Among the findings of the audit were a failure to do basic things like ensuring the software is compatible between agencies and being able to inform DMV customers why they were being asked about voter registration.
With the 2020 elections drawing nearer, the County can not afford to have errors—much less ones as simple as these—disrupt the democratic process.
