Voter registration
is one of the obstacles a voter has to overcome in order to vote.
An eligible voter cannot vote without first registering. This places
an added burden on eligible voters because those who forgot or failed
to register are unable to cast their votes. Studies have shown that
voter turnout started to decline after registration was instituted.
Interestingly, the U.S. is not the only democracy that has a registration
requirement; other western countries also require voters to register.
The difference is that in countries with higher voter turnout, registering
voters is the responsibility of the government, whereas in the U.S.
it is the individual's responsibility. Another obstacle to voter
turnout in the U.S. is that the time and locations of registration
are not well publicized, so many people do not know when and where
to register. In addition, registration laws in the U.S. are established
by state governments, and some states have laws that make it difficult
for citizens to qualify because they have to prove eligibility by
having lived at a certain location for a certain length of time,
usually between 30 and 50 days. There is
no doubt that low voter turnout will continue to be a problem in
the U.S. for a long time.
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