Quite soon, students will hopefully be able to register for more than classes through Penn InTouch.
Under a new bill currently being proposed in Congress, nicknamed the VOTER Act, students will be able to register to vote at the same time they register for courses.
After an election season focused on getting out the vote, particularly among youth, this bill is an excellent way to keep the momentum going and to engage more students nationwide in the voting process. Getting voters to register is even less glamorous than trying to get people to vote, and it's easy to miss the registration deadline, particularly for students.
Voter registration often isn't as high as it appears - for instance, while most registered students voted in the last election, only about 3,000 Penn students were registered in the last presidential election - and this bill is a way to increase registration, which is often an unrecognized (by voters) barrier to participation. In a voter-dependent democratic republic, unregistered voters are a clog in the system.
The VOTER Act is an extension of the Motor Voter Act, which was successful because it attached voter registration onto something people knew was vital: registering their license plate. By similarly piggybacking voter registration onto something students need to do on a regular basis, the VOTER Act has the potential to be more effective than any "Don't Vote" campaign.
While supported by many student groups, the bill has yet to pass Congress. We hope we'll soon be able to check off our party affiliation when choosing a recitation.
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