Explain Like I'm 5 (ELI5)

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ELI5 why do people in USA need to register to vote? (self.eli5)

submitted 3 months ago by verstra to c/[email protected]

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I'd expect the state to have a list of all its citizens and their basic personal info (age) which could be used to determine their eligibility for voting. In my country, we get a "invitation" to the vote, with your voter station and info on how to change it.

Instead, I'm seeing posts about USA's "voter rolls", which are sometimes purged, which prevents people from voting. Isn't this an attack on the voting system and democracy itself?

So why doesn't USA have a list of voters? Are they stupid?

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[–] [email protected] 43 points 3 months ago (14 children)

Because voting regulations are left to the State governments, and each state government does it slightly differently, often with designs that are specifically intended to disenfranchise specific voters.

Further, because of the Electoral College, it is very important WHERE you vote. If I live in New York, I can't vote in Pennsylvania. I get lumped together with everyone in New York.

So my registration ties me to a "permanent address" that aligns with a state, their electoral college contribution, and the rules they've put in place to gather, validate, and verify the vote, all mixed with manipulation over the years to swing the vote wherever possible (see: gerrymandering)

[–] verstra 9 points 3 months ago (7 children)

We do have "permanent address" here too and it is used to determine the voter station and district and thus the representative candidates you can vote.

Is the "permanent address" a thing just for the voting system, or is it used for other bureaucracy as well?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Governmental agencies typically dont share data like that so you would have to give them your address separately. Imo its partially a republican "hurr no big govt" and jim crow type deal where republicans want to keep poor people and colored people from voting (less likely to have the time to register or have a fixed address).

[–] [email protected] -5 points 3 months ago

Republican?

Funny, I remember Democrats 50 years ago being anti-establishment.

Make up your mind.

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