Oregon Public Broadcasting

Starting today, Oregonians have another option for voter registration. The Secretary of State’s office has set up an online registration site. April Baer reports.

Secretary of State Kate Brown says she can’t imagine getting rid of the traditional paper forms, but one of her priorities is refitting the registration system with more modern options.

Kate Brown  “Oregonians turn out to vote once they registered. In fact, in November of 2008 our voter turnout was  85.7%, one of the highest in the nation. Where we’re lagging is actually registration."

Brown hopes younger Oregonians in particular, who are under represented, will be more likely to take part in the process now that they can register from their home computers.

The new database cost about $200,000 dollars to set up. Most of that paid for the electronic system that verifies signatures. Some of the funding came from the federal government.

Brown says the system will cross-reference with a citizenship database maintained by the  Oregon DMV starting in 2016.

April Baer, OPB News.

Oregon Online Voter Registration System