We have long known that complicated voter registration requirements constitute one of the major barriers to voting. In fact. many States adopted voter registration in order to prevent certain segments of the population from voting. Alexander Keyssar. the preeminent scholar on the history of the right to vote in this country. writes that although "[r]egistration laws emerged in the nineteenth century as a means of keeping track of voters and preventing fraud. they also servedand were intended to serveas a means of keeping AfricanAmerican. workingclass. immigrant. and poor voters from the polls." It is time for a fundamental change. A large body of research tells us that unnecessarily burdensome voter registration requirements are the single largest factor in preventing people from voting. Simply put. voter registration restrictions should not keep eligible Americans from exercising their right to vote.
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