City Cast

Pennsylvania Just Made Voter Registration Easier

Brittany Valentine
Brittany Valentine
Posted on September 22
You could get registered to vote at your next DMV trip. (MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle/Getty Images)

You could get registered to vote at your next DMV trip. (MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle/Getty Images)

What’s Up? 👀

Listen, I know most of us dread the DMV. But now, Pennsylvania residents can be automatically registered to vote when receiving a driver’s license or state ID card, under a new policy announced by Gov. Josh Shapiro.

How Does It Work? 🤔

The goal is to increase voter turnout, by making it even easier to vote. When filling out digital forms at your local DMV, the computer screen will offer you a prompt where you can decide if you want to register to vote. All your voter information will then be submitted and/or updated, and voilà, you’re done ✅

Does This Matter? 📈

As of 2022, there were 8.7 million Pennsylvania residents registered to vote. But 1.6 million eligible voters across the Commonwealth remain unregistered, per The Washington Post.

Studies show that states with automatic voter registration saw spikes in voter registration AND election day turnout. One study found that turnout increased by about 5%.

Questions about voting? Shoot us an email, so we can address them in future segments!

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