The push to automatically sign up voters kicked off with the new laws in Oregon and California. Now, it will most likely hit the notably less liberal state which is West Virginia.
According to The New York Times, the proposed automatic voter sign up has taken a less-than-conventional journey to the governor's desk. The Democrats even accused a Republican voter ID bill as the "voter suppression act."
They also offered an amendment to include automatic registration when people get driver's licenses or IDs. The Republican-led Legislator accepted the proposal without much resistance.
In fact, the reception is calmer on the West Coast since only one Republican in California and none in Oregon casted their votes for the similar automatic registration setups. In New Jersey, Republican Governor Chris Christie prohibited a similar proposal that was cleared by the Democrats just last year, mentioned in The Big Story.
But West Virginia's Republican Senate President had only expressed positive things regarding the proposal. "If managed properly, automatic registration is a great benefit to our citizens and will encourage more people to go to the polls," stated Senate President Bill Cole, R-Mercer.
But the decision is still up to Governor Ray Tomblin, which is a Democrat. He has to decide if West Virginia will join the automatic voter registration movement, which has drawn praise from the U.S. President and the Democratic presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.
The Seattle Times also reported that even though the governor has not taken a stance on the legislation yet, he supports the idea of automatic registration. He has also generally referred to requiring IDs to vote as something that would not be a big deal in the state.
The bill's ID requirements also were slackened, including items from utility bills to fishing licenses count. Poll workers or friends could also guarantee voters who can't produce their identification.
Just like California, West Virginia requirements are set to take place for the 2018 elections. West Virginia residents getting driver's licenses can also now check a box to register to vote and it can also make them check a box if they do not want to register.
Meanwhile, the voter ID bill will have a long list of ID options. But the voting rights groups claim that voter ID bill could still discourage people from voting.
