Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie (D) is likely to sign legislation allowing eligible citizens to register and vote on Election Day after the legislature passed the measure by a wide margin. Anyone eligible to cast a ballot would be able to register on Election Day at early voting sites beginning in 2016, or at regular polling places starting in 2018. Scott Nago, the state’s chief elections officer, supported the bill in written testimony before the legislature. Abercrombie has not said whether he will sign the bill, but Democrats expect him to do so. Elections officials and Democrats who backed the bill said they hoped it would boost turnout in a state with the lowest participation rates in the country.
Just 44.2 percent of Hawaii’s voting-eligible population voted in the 2012 presidential contest, 14 points below the national average and two points below the next-lowest state, West Virginia, according to the United States Elections Project at George Mason University. Fewer than half of all voting-eligible persons turned out in Texas and Oklahoma, as well.
On the other end of the spectrum, more than 70 percent of the voting-eligible population turned out in Colorado, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Wisconsin — all states that allow same-day registration.
Full Article: Hawaii likely to allow same-day voter registration.