California: California is making it easier to vote — even if you forgot to register | The Tribune

Thinking about voting in the June 5 election but forgot to register? Or maybe you moved and forgot to update your address. Don’t worry. For the first time in a California general election, voters who missed the registration deadline can still vote for sheriff or a favorite candidate for governor — thanks to a new conditional voter registration process. That’s because of state legislation that went into effect in 2017. It’s part of what Secretary of State Alex Padilla called, “a simple way we’re continuing to expand voting rights and opportunities in California.” All would-be voters need to do is fill out a same-day registration card and cast their ballots on or before Election Day.

Utah: Bill Creating Election-day Voter Registration Pilot Advances | City Weekly

In 2013, Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck came close to passing a bill that would require county and city clerks to allow voters to register and vote on election day. The bill was killed over a concerns about costs and possible fraud issues, but now Chavez-Houck has resurrected the bill as a pilot program that cities and counties would voluntarily opt into. With a pilot program, municipal and county clerks would be able to accept registration and then offer a provisional ballot on election day to a voter that would be counted after the vote was verified. As a pilot program participating counties would closely monitor the same-day votes and report back their findings to the Legislature to see if there are any concerns or abuse of the process.

Editorials: Colorado strikes a blow for voting reform | Washington Post

It hasn’t gotten the national attention it deserves, but a sweeping measure to overhaul elections in Colorado is swiftly moving towards passage — one that could function as a model for other voting reformers in other states, and perhaps even nationally. The Colorado measure will represent a big step forward, because it sticks to the most fundamental principle that most reformers think should guide our efforts to fix voting: That voting should be made easier for as many people as possible. This, at a time when conservative groups are working to restrict voting in the name of “voter fraud.” As Reid Wilson recently put it, the Colorado measure is “the Democratic comeback to voter ID.”

Montana: Montana House backs election-related referendums | Missoulian

After lengthy debates, the House on Tuesday endorsed two proposed referendums dealing with elections. By a 60-40 vote, the House approved Senate Bill 405 by Sen. Alan Olson, R-Roundup, to change a 2005 state law and end voter registration at 5 p.m. on the Friday before Election Day. People no longer would be able to register to vote on Election Day and then cast their votes same day as has been the case since the 2005 law passed.

National: Bill would require states to allow people to register to vote on the same day as the election | Hometown Source

U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Jon Tester (D-MT) today introduced legislation to help make voting easier for all Americans. The Same Day Registration Act would require states to allow people to register to vote for a federal election on the same day as the election. … Klobuchar recently traveled to Alabama with Congressman John Lewis and visited several key sites of the civil rights movement including the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. Klobuchar also spoke to Attorney General Eric Holder at a Senate Judiciary hearing last week about protecting the right to vote and encouraging voter participation.