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DENVER, CO — Representative Kyle Mullica and Majority Leader Daneya Esgar, sponsors of legislation passed in 2019 to implement automatic voter registration in Colorado, today celebrated the success of Colorado’s automatic voter registration system, which has doubled the registration rate for unregistered DMV customers when compared to the old system.
“Colorado has the most accessible and secure election system in the country and some of the highest participation rates because we make it easy to securely register and vote,” said Rep. Kyle Mullica, D-Federal Heights. “The automatic voter registration system is working, and it’s leading more eligible but unregistered Coloradans to participate in our democracy.”
“Colorado leads the way when it comes to making it easy to register and vote because the legislature has taken historic action to strengthen our democracy and create Colorado’s gold standard election system,” said Majority Leader Daneya Esgar, D-Pueblo. “I’m proud that so many Coloradans are registered to vote and participating in our democracy as a result of the common sense and often bipartisan reforms we’ve made.”
In 2019, the legislature passed SB19-235, sponsored by Rep Mullica and Majority Leader Esgar, which required the Department of Revenue to share the electronic record of unregistered electors who are eligible to register to vote when they apply to issue or renew a Colorado driver’s license or identification card. Under the system, unregistered DMV customers who can definitively establish their eligibility to vote are sent a letter informing them that they will be registered and providing them the option to decline registration or affiliate with a political party.
Research shows how the changes enacted through SB19-235 have led to increased registration of previously unregistered eligible voters. The changes led to an additional 200,000 registration updates per year and an additional 29 to 38 registrations per 100 unregistered DMV customers.