Automated Registration Starts at DMV in April – Here’s a Few Facts

March 30, 2018 - In just a few days visitors to DMV will experience a new addition when conducting transactions – proactive voter registration options. In 2015 California’s new “Motor Voter” bill was signed into law. However, it could not go into effect until California’s statewide voter database was operational and data issues were solved.

Now, when people conduct driver’s license transactions, they will also be asked to affirm their eligibility to vote and will be given the choice of opting out of registering at that time. If individuals do not opt out the data will be transmitted to the Secretary of State, where eligibility will be verified and names will be added to the voter rolls.

This is not “automatic” registration, such as in Oregon, where people do not have the option to opt out at their local DMV. For the system to be operational, California’s DMV and Secretary of State must ensure that the appropriate firewalls are in place to not register people that are not eligible.