A while back NPR had a story about automatic voter registration in the state of Oregon. The article noted that 17 years previously Oregon became the first state in the nation to hold all elections by mail ballot. Now this: if you go to renew your driver’s license in Oregon, and you will now be signed up to vote automatically. As the article noted:

It’s the first state in the country with that sort of law, which is designed to make voting easier, and stands in contrast to the trend seen in the past several years in more conservative states. . . . In Oregon, the law could swell voter rolls by hundreds of thousands. If other states follow suit, it could have a dramatic effect on the U.S. voting process.

Of course, Conservatives are not happy with this turn of events. As the piece pointed out:

Conservatives, however, argue that states need to be concerned about preventing voter fraud. They also make the case that the Oregon law makes it easier for the government to track people. Oregon Public Broadcasting reported [that] Republicans who voted against the law say they’re worried about data privacy when the [Department of Motor Vehicles] sends information to elections officials.

As some commentators have pointed out, people who drive cars and have licenses are already in the DMV database. Being registered to vote does not actually force anyone to vote. It just gives them the option to vote.

Leave it to the Republicans to be against people being registered to vote. That’s because the more people vote, the less likely the Republicans are to win. Especially when young people and minorities vote. It’s our friends in the GOP, and not the Democrats, who truly are the part of the elites. As John Tamny of Forbes recently observed, the Republicans should shed all pretense, become the ‘party of the rich’. Anybody who has been paying attention already knows that, of course.