Photo by hey-helen

Photo by hey-helen

If you’re a Maryland resident, you can register to vote online. If you’re a D.C. resident, you can’t. Councilmember Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) wants that to change.

Wells introduced legislation today that would push the D.C. Board of Elections to implement online voter registration, much like the initiatives that Maryland and 11 other states have kicked off in recent years. In a press release, Wells said that online voter registration would encourage more residents to register to vote.

“When it comes to modernizing access to the ballot box and exercising the right to vote, the District has made great strides in recent years by adding same-day voter registration and early voting centers in each Ward. However, we remain woefully out-of-date, and out-of-style, in how an individual can register to vote and update their voter information with a name change or change of address. States across the country are stepping into the 21st century and creating secure online tools for voter registration,” said Wells.

Nevada, for one, has been using online voter registration to register 623,000 residents that haven’t yet voted, and the Secretary of State recently announced that the initiative has led to a doubling in the rate of daily voter registrations throughout the state. California’s online voter registration system went live last week, and since then 110,000 residents have used it. In Maryland, 22,000 people registered online within two months.

Currently in D.C., you can register in person or by mail, but the only only online option available leaves you having to print out the forms and mail them in. (Virginia is the same.) According to Wells’ office, only 240 people registered to vote or updated their registrations on September 25, National Register to Vote Day.