Passing SB 299 Moves Toward Registering Majority of Remaining 4.7 Million Eligible, Unregistered California Voters 

For Immediate Release:

August 30, 2024

Contact:

dan@responsivegov.org

SACRAMENTO, CA — On Friday, the California State Senate advanced SB 299, legislation that would upgrade the state’s existing automatic voter registration (AVR) system at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) in the state. The bill, introduced by Senator Monique Limón and Senator Caroline Menjivar, passed the California Assembly earlier this week. It now heads to Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk.

“With today’s passage of SB 299, California is taking a critical step not only towards a more inclusive, representative democracy, but towards a more secure, efficient, and effective automatic voter registration system,” said Sam Oliker-Friedland, executive director of the Institute for Responsive Government. “These AVR upgrades are smart for both voters and election officials alike – they will save funds, streamline the transactions Californians have with government agencies, and expand participation in our democracy. Thanks to the California Legislature’s leadership, the passage of SB 299 will help modernize and strengthen California elections.”

Passage of SB 299 is expected to help minimize the registration gap of 4.7 million Californians who are eligible to vote but remain unregistered, a group disproportionately made up of Asian American, Black, and Latino citizens. This is the largest population of eligible unregistered voters in the country, and 1 in 6 eligible Californians is not registered to vote. For context, if this group had their own state, it would be the 25th largest state in the country – with a population larger than the populations of Kentucky, Louisiana, or Oregon.

This bill gives the secretary of state discretion to adopt and maintain a list of people “pre-approved for registration.” This list would consist of eligible people who have not affirmatively registered to vote during their license transaction, but who have provided proof of eligibility (including U.S. citizenship) during their business with the DMV. The secretary would have authority to provide people on this “pre-approved” list a more streamlined way to activate their pre-approved registration, without the need to affirmatively re-supply all of the information already provided during their DMV transaction. Each year one million eligible unregistered people pass through the California DMV without registering to vote. This pre-approved list is a powerful tool to reach this population and convert millions more people into California voters.

The bill also adds two important improvements to California’s existing Motor Voter system. First, the bill requires that anyone who provides proof of non-citizenship during their license transaction be automatically filtered out of any registration opportunity. This common-sense change better protects non-citizens from making an honest mistake and unintentionally registering to vote under the current system.

Second, SB 299 also requires the DMV to work with the Secretary of State to automatically check voter registration status during a driver’s license transaction. This allows the Motor Voter questions to be more intelligently tailored depending on whether the customer is unregistered or already registered to vote.

For more about the passage of SB 299 and the current national landscape of the policy, view Responsive Gov’s analysis. To speak with an expert at Responsive Gov about how the AVR upgrades would impact voters in California, please contact dan@responsivegov.org.

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The Institute for Responsive Government is a nonpartisan nonprofit dedicated to ensuring state and federal governments work effectively for the very people they serve. IRG provides data, research, and expertise to elected officials in order to find practical policy solutions that make government systems more efficient, accessible, and responsive.