

California launches online voter registration - headShrinker
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/09/california-launches-online-voter-registration/

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thesash
Direct link to registration website:
<https://rtv.sos.ca.gov/elections/register-to-vote/>

It works surprisingly well. Crazy that this is new.

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Robelius
I was just at my library trying to get a form, but they were out. Great
surprise to find this link on my return.

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whalesalad
I'm super impressed by this. I'm grateful that government websites are finally
starting to shape up. I'm on a break from California in good ol' Virginia
right now and have been eager to register to vote. I just finished the
registration in about 5 minutes, luckily I know all of the things it requested
by memory. WOOT!

Now I won't have any regrets about voting down the road when i'm at some
backyard BBQ talking about the president. I'm looking forward to voting in
this upcoming election.

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inetsee
I find it interesting (but not surprising) that California is making an effort
to make voter registration easier, while many states (mostly Southern)
continue to try to put obstacles in the way of many people (mostly African-
American, or poor, or both) being able to register to vote.

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waterlesscloud
This online system only works if you have a state-issued photo id.

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ryguytilidie
I don't know where you got this from. There is a "I don't have a california
ID" box you can check, input your social security number and you're done.

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r00fus
This absolutely rules. I just re-registered (due to having moved) and it's
quite straightforward, and you can request a permanent vote-by-mail ballot
(most secure way to vote).

For those paranoid about "online voting" - this is nothing of the sort, it
simply updates the county voting registry with your details, they do a human
effort to match it up with your existing info.

Now if only the swing states had this in-place, it could enfranchise millions
of folks who can't/don't have the time to register or don't realize they might
have missed the registration deadline.

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B-Con
> vote-by-mail ballot (most secure way to vote)

[Citation needed].

~~~
riffic
one that immediately comes to mind is the US Mail system is a best effort
delivery protocol.

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CrankyPants
Best effort? You haven't met my mail carrier, who was busy one day and decided
to remedy that by skipping delivery to my neighborhood that day, marking my
package "no such residence at address," returning it to its sender, who just
happened to send it from another country.

So, yeah. I'm pretty sure it's a least-effort-without-getting-fired delivery
protocol.

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bicknergseng
I must have done something wrong. I filled everything out and it had me print
a form that I'm supposed to mail to my registrar in order to register... which
of course is registering via mail and not online.

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epoxyhockey
I'm not sure what conditions led to that outcome. My successful registration
(using my license #) yielded the following message: _Congratulations! Your DMV
signature has been retrieved and attached to your voter registration form and
will be provided to your county elections office. Your form is now complete.
Thank you for registering to vote! Please print a receipt for your records._

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bicknergseng
Yah that's the problem... I don't have a CA license. I'm a student but I'm
from a different state, whose voter registration says to register to vote in
CA. Oh well... mail works.

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cutie
About f'ing time... it's 2012. This year is also the first year you could file
online CA tax returns without a middleman (or at least the first I noticed).
When is the IRS gonna get off its butt?

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Mithrandir
Note: If the DMV doesn't have your signature on file, you have to print out
the application and send it in.

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jimbobob
This is great. Just registered and the process took about 15 minutes.

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MichaelApproved
15 minutes seems surprisingly long. What took the most time?

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Robelius
Took me less than five minutes. I knew all of my information except for my
Driver ID #. I'm guessing he had to search for his information.

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enraged_camel
Here's hoping for online voting soon, as well.

