<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div>Courtesy of Politico at:</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/oregon-pioneers-automatic-voter-registration-116139.html">http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/oregon-pioneers-automatic-voter-registration-116139.html</a></div><div><br></div><div>-------------------------------------</div><div><br></div><div><h1 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; line-height: 1.2em; font-size: 2.5em; font-family: tablet-gothic-condensed, 'Arial Narrow', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Oregon pioneers automatic voter registration</h1><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Oregon became the first state to automatically register Americans to vote on Monday.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A new bill signed into law by Democratic Gov. Kate Brown “puts the burden of registration on the state instead of voters,” according to <a href="http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2015/03/16/oregon-first-state-adopt-automatic-voter-registration/blEluzAXL7JzloPBIDh40I/story.html" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-transition: all 0.25s ease; transition: all 0.25s ease; text-decoration: none;">the Associated Press</a>.</span></p><p class="story-continued" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Story Continued Below</span></p><div class="story-interrupt format-s pos-alpha predetermined" style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; width: 638.5px; float: left; margin-right: 54.71875px;"><div class="interrupt-item ad" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The law makes it so that anyone over 18 who is not registered to vote in Oregon but who has dealt with the state’s Driver and Motor Vehicle Services Division since 2013 will be mailed a ballot 20 days before the next statewide election. Oregon predicts that this new system will bring 300,000 more eligible voters to the polls.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">To implement the new law, Oregon’s DMV will share the information it has stored — such as age, address and citizenship — with the state’s secretary of state to automatically register those eligible to vote.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The new law passed the Oregon Senate last week 18-12, with all Republicans and one Democrat voting against it.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Higher turnout in Oregon will likely benefit Democrats — and Republicans worry it will increase voter fraud and costs. ‘‘Simply because it makes us unique or makes us first does not necessarily mean that it actually improves on what we’re doing,’’ State Senator Jackie Winters (R) told the AP.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seventeen years ago, Oregon became the first state to use mail-in ballots for all elections</span></p></div><div><br></div><div>-------------------------------------<br><br><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div></div></div></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div></body></html>