• cosmicrookie@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    But it has always been like this no? Have Americans ever not had to register to vote? Why cant all just be automatically registered to vote?

    • Soggy@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Republicans are currently making it harder for left-leaning populations to vote, by closing polling stations in urban areas or opposing vote-by-mail. Automatic voter registration is being actively resisted. That is “why”.

      Voter registration became a thing in the 1800s to limit the voice of immigrants, adopted state by state.

      Oregon first, and about a dozen other states since, have made registration automatic when you get a driver’s license or state ID.

      So yeah it’s pretty much always been like this.