{"id":2212,"date":"2020-01-11T10:00:07","date_gmt":"2020-01-11T17:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/?p=2212"},"modified":"2020-01-16T12:03:27","modified_gmt":"2020-01-16T19:03:27","slug":"senate-committee-rejects-sen-patricia-bates-bill-to-restore-opt-in-voter-registration-at-dmv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/?p=2212","title":{"rendered":"Senate Committee Rejects Sen. Patricia Bates\u2019 Bill to Restore \u201cOpt-in\u201d Voter Registration at DMV"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SACRAMENTO \u2013 The Senate Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee today rejected on a partisan vote\u00a0Senate Bill 57<\/a>\u00a0by Senator Patricia Bates (R-Laguna Niguel) that would have restored \u201copt-in\u201d voter registration at the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven that the Secretary of State\u2019s office and the DMV have underplayed well-documented problems with automatic registration, today\u2019s outcome was not a surprise,\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>said Senator Bates.\u00a0\u201cThe decision to register to vote should be made by the individual \u2013 not the state. Those who oppose my bill fail to appreciate that an \u2018opt-in\u2019 process gives citizens more control over their own voter registrations and reduces opportunities for errors and fraud. I will continue to fight for election integrity, including working with my colleagues to make a simple fix to provide clarity to customers who visit DMV offices.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Senate Bill 57<\/a>\u00a0would have rolled back\u00a0Assembly Bill 1461<\/a>\u00a0(2015), which requires the DMV to automatically register Californians to vote when they obtain or renew driver’s licenses or identification cards. Numerous progressive groups opposed AB 1461 because they were concerned that undocumented immigrants would be automatically registered to vote, putting them at risk of criminal penalties and deportation.<\/p>\n

Senator John Moorlach, a co-author of SB 57, said after today\u2019s vote,\u00a0\u201cOur state needs to develop a better system for DMV voter registration that gives people the ability to opt-in and verify their voter information. This vote was a missed opportunity to correct the errors that the current technology has generated.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The DMV\u2019s difficulties in implementing automatic voter registration has been well documented by media outlets over the past two years:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n