Pre-Registration at Age 16

Political Reform — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 11:46:00 -0500

THE PROBLEM

In California, nearly a third of eligible voters – about 6.7 million Californians – are not registered to vote.Of particular concern is that young people are more negatively impacted by our voter registation system than other demographic groups. In 2004, a presidential election year, just over half of eligible Californians between 18 and 24 years of age were registered to vote (and in nonpresidential elections that rate is even lower). This lack of civic participation is a threat to good governance and a healthy democracy. Current state law limits valuable opportunities for reaching this important and under-represented population.

BACKGROUND

Current state… more