North Dakota has no voter registration. How does that work?

President Trump likes to talk about voter fraud when he’s not busy covering the White House in gold or recklessly tearing apart foreign alliances.

Although this occurrence is rare (such as the detection of a pangolin in the wild), Trump persistently spreads a cloud of false claims. About rigged voting machines, dead people voting, manipulation of mail-in votes, and other feverish figments of the ripe imagination.

Voting is the most fundamental element of democratic practices; It is a virtuous act that stands alongside motherhood and apple pie. But Trump treated it as a cudgel, something dark and sinister, fueling a partisan divide. weakening faith In terms of the accuracy and integrity of our choices.

One result of this is a series of new laws that make it harder to vote.

At least 30 states have passed more than 100 restrictive laws since the 2020 presidential election, which, according to the Trump administration’s own observers, was the most secure election in American history, according to New York University’s Brennan Center and the Democracy Policy Lab at UC Berkeley.

Texas passes law allowing fewer polling places. Mississippi has made it harder for people with disabilities to vote by mail. North Carolina shortened the window for mail-in ballots.

In California, state Sen. Carl DeMaio and his allies are working to qualify a November ballot measure that would require a government-issued ID to vote, a solution to a desperate search for a problem.

“We have the lowest level of public confidence and trust in our elections that we have ever seen,” the San Diego Republican said as he launched the effort, sounding like someone lamenting the damage of a fire while ignoring the arsonist scattering paint thinner.

Amidst all the manufactured hysteria, there is a unique place in America that does not have a voter registration requirement.

You are eligible to vote if you are a U.S. citizen, 18 years of age or older, and have lived in North Dakota for the 30 days before election day. It’s been that way for more than 70 years, since 1951, when voter registration was abolished in the state.

How does it work?

According to those who observe the system closely, it is quite good.

“It’s working perfectly,” said Sandy McMerty, North Dakota’s deputy secretary of state.

“I think overall most people are happy with it because it eases the burden of keeping records and saves money,” political scientist Mark Jendrysik said.

Jendrysik, who teaches at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, said voter registration was canceled at a time when the state, now redder than the side of a barn, was dominated by strong two-party competition and with it the two-party spirit of rural populism.

“There was this idea that we needed to make it easier to vote,” Jendrysik said. “We need to open things up.”

What a concept.

Open voting did not put North Dakota ahead in terms of voting. In the last three elections, voter turnout has been close to the national average, ranking in the middle among states.

However, the incidence of fraud is not high. A study conducted by the State Audit Office in 2022 found it “extraordinarily” unlikely An election in North Dakota could be affected by fraud. (Again, like the country as a whole.)

In fact, Jendrysik said he doesn’t remember a single case of election fraud being prosecuted in the 26 years he’s lived in North Dakota and followed its politics.

It’s not like everyone can come and vote.

Voting in North Dakota requires a valid form of identification, such as a state-issued driver’s license, tribal ID or long-term care certificate. It needs to be presented in every election.

In contrast, a California voter is not required to show identification at a polling place before voting; but they may be asked to do so if they are voting for the first time after registering to vote by mail and their application does not include certain information. This includes the last four digits of the driver’s license number or Social Security number.

Could North Dakota’s informal system be replicated elsewhere?

Jendrysik’s standing is questionable, especially in today’s political climate.

North Dakota is a sparsely populated state with hundreds of small communities where seemingly everyone knows each other. There are approximately 470,000 voters; That’s a much more manageable number than, say, California’s 30 million adult-age residents. (There are more than a dozen in California districts There are north of half a million registered voters.)

“This is unique to this state,” Jendrysik said, “and I think if they hadn’t done this decades ago, it never would have happened.”

(Fun fact: North Dakota also has no parking meters on public streets due to a state law passed in 1948, according to Jendrysik, who has published two academic papers on the subject.)

Secretary of State McMerty believes others can emulate North Dakota’s example.

This will require tight data sharing and close coordination between various government agencies, he suggested. “We update our voter lists daily, including driver’s license holders, births, deaths,” McMerty said.

Again, this is a much easier task in a state with a population the size of North Dakota’s. (About 800,000 at last count.)

There is no particular reason for others to end voter registration systems unless they can be proven to significantly increase turnout.

We must do everything we can to get people to vote and invest in our beleaguered political system. Instead of wasting time chasing shadows and ghosts or getting caught up in some poor president’s daydreams.