1. United States
2. Mich.
3. Letter

The government plans to automatically register men for the military draft by December 2025 by pulling data from existing databases. If we can automate draft registration, we can and should automate voter registration using the same approach. The Selective Service System calls this a "streamlined registration process" that reduces bureaucracy and saves taxpayer money. Those same benefits apply to voter registration. We already have the databases needed to register eligible voters automatically when they interact with state agencies, just as 46 states now register men for the draft when they get driver's licenses. Expanding this to full automatic voter registration would eliminate barriers that keep eligible citizens from participating in our democracy. The contrast is stark. We're making it easier to conscript people into military service while maintaining unnecessary obstacles to voting. Both are civic duties, but only one is fundamental to democracy. I want you to introduce or co-sponsor legislation requiring automatic voter registration in every state using the same data systems being deployed for draft registration. If the technology and infrastructure exist to automate one form of civic participation, they exist for both.