California is making it easier for teenagers to be ready to vote once they turn 18.
Cosmopolitan reports that California Governor Jerry Brown passed a law on Friday that will, hopefully, increase the number of young adults who vote “by an estimated 200,000 per year,” according to Democrat Assemblyman Kevin McCarty’s office.
Teenagers will be immediately pre-registered to vote when they receive a license or any other kind of ID card from the DMV — and their registrations will become active on their 18th birthdays.
The new pre-registration will make it easier for young people to get more involved in the political process. The numbers are starting to make a turnaround now in recent elections, but the 18-24 age group has been notorious for having some of the lowest voter turnout every year since 2000, despite having a decently large demographic in the United States overall. Baby Boomers, Gen X and the Silent and Greatest Generation (anyone over 71) have, until recently, had far more voter turnout than Millennials, and especially so during presidential elections. It seems like that tide is changing, and this law will help it continue to change in California.
Registering to vote when getting a license at the DMV in California is currently an opt-in service. It will become automatic with this law, as will being pre-registered to vote if you’re 16 or 17. The law Brown signed is a combination of two bills; one dealt with automatic registration, and the other handled pre-registration for teenagers.
With the current increasing political upheaval, teenagers have begun to stand up and make their voices heard in any way they can. Now teenagers in California can be sure they’ll be ready to put their voices to a vote the moment they turn 18.
Automatic pre-registration will start January 1, 2019. Teenagers from California can sign up to pre-register here.