Shane Hamlin, co-director of elections for the state of Washington, spoke at NCSL’s 2011 Legislative Summit on his state's experience with online voter registration. He says it has improved accuracy, saved money and met the expectations of some segments of the citizenry for online services.

He emphasized that online registration is one option, not the only option, for registering. Paper applications are available as always, and most registrations continue to be handled in conjunction with citizen transactions at motor vehicle offices. Online voter registration is increasing in popularity. While it is more common for younger voters, substantial parts of all age cohorts are using it.

The initial cost of instituting online voter registration was about $250,000 and this was recouped within a couple of years. Hamlin indicates other states could expect similar costs. Savings come from no longer hand-processing written applications. Because voters enter and confirm their own data, accuracy has increased, too.

Security is always a concern in elections-related matters. All online registrations are matched against data in the motor vehicle database, where voters previously have appeared in person. If there is no match, the online registration cannot be completed. This gives a greater level of security than the paper-based system, says Hamlin.