Online Voter Registration: Case Studies in Arizona and Washington

A handful of states have recently passed legislation to implement online voter registration, but two states—Arizona and Washington—have been at the forefront of this innovation.

Technology that provides access to better data and information management is widespread in the private sector and common in some areas of government, such as homeland security. But election administrators are just now beginning to take advantage of these tools.

Online voter registration is an important step forward for the elections community and a critical component of a modernized system. Matching voter records from an online system with other official data sources could provide election officials with more accurate data and better tools to manage their voter lists and administer elections.

The Pew Center on the States commissioned researchers at the University of Washington and the University of California, Berkeley, to evaluate the implementation and usage of online voter registration in the two states after the 2008 general election. The studies indicate that online voter registration:  

Saves money compared to traditional paper processes

• • In Arizona’s most populous county, Maricopa County, it costs an average of three cents to process an online application compared to an average of 83 cents per paper application. 
• • In Washington, savings occur at both the state and county level.  The Washington Office of Secretary of State saves 25 cents per online application while counties save between 50 cents and $2.00 per online application compared to paper forms (depending on their respective electronic systems and practices).

Could increase the accuracy of voter lists

• • Information provided by voters must be matched exactly with the state motor vehicle agency’s database records. 
• • Online voter registration allows voters to electronically send their information directly to election officials, reducing the opportunity for human and data entry errors. 

Streamlines the registration process for election officials

• • Some Washington counties reported that online applications required 1/5 of the time to process compared to paper applications.
• • Reducing the need for data entry has allowed election officials to focus their time and energy on other pressing areas of election administration.

Has popular public support

• • Over 90 percent of respondents to the survey who registered online in Arizona or Washington said the system was easy to use.
• • About 70 percent of voters in both states said they would register online if they needed to re-register in the future.

View Full Report:

March 31, 2010 -
Online Voter Registration Systems in Arizona and Washington (Adobe PDF)