To: Governor Phil Scott

Governor Shumlin: bring automatic voter registration to Vermont!

Victory! The creator of this petition declared the campaign a success. You can still sign the petition to show support.

Automatic voter registration is significant step forward in the modernization of our voting registration process. H.458 creates a secure and modern registration system to ensure that all eligible citizens can participate in our democracy.

H. 458 is a groundbreaking reform that automatically registers eligible Vermonters electronically. This bill, passed with strong tri-partisan support, would make Vermont the fourth in the nation to enact such a law. Automatic voter registration is already seeing incredible success in Oregon, quadrupling registration rates since putting its new system in place in January.

If enacted, Vermont could add between 30,000 and 50,000 new voters to the rolls within the first four years. Automatic voter registration gives each of us the ability to have our voice heard in democracy, so I urge you to sign the bill into law as soon as possible.

Why is this important?

Last week, the Vermont State Senate passed automatic voter registration with nearly unanimous support. This legislation would make Vermont fourth in the nation to enact such a law.

Governor Shumlin needs to hear that you support automatic voter registration, and he should sign it into law.

Automatic voter registration, H. 458, could add up to 50,000 voters to the rolls in the next four years. It would strengthen security of our voter database, increase accuracy, save taxpayer dollars, and protect the fundamental right of every eligible citizen to participate in our democracy. It works by allowing the DMV to use information they already collect – age, address and citizenship – to determine if a person is eligible to vote. If eligible, the citizen is added to the voter rolls unless they decline to be registered.

Automatic voter registration is already seeing incredible success in Oregon, quadrupling registrations since it was enacted four months ago. We believe that our democracy works best when more people participate, and it's time for Vermont to join the wave of automatic voter registration.