BILL NUMBER: SCR 66CHAPTERED BILL TEXT RESOLUTION CHAPTER 120 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 12, 2013 ADOPTED IN SENATE AUGUST 26, 2013 ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 10, 2013 INTRODUCED BY Senator Yee AUGUST 13, 2013 Relative to Online Voter Registration Day. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SCR 66, Yee. Online Voter Registration Day. This measure would declare September 19, 2013, to be Online Voter Registration Day, and would state the Legislature's intent to encourage all eligible voters in the state to register to vote prior to the October 21, 2013, deadline for local elections to be held on November 5, 2013. WHEREAS, Political sovereignty was vested in the people to ensure a process of remedy and redress of grievances against government through a democratic process of electing representatives to voice the people's concerns; and WHEREAS, Individuals can now easily participate in our democracy by registering to vote online or through a range of traditional means to take advantage of their right to vote, the most important of rights and obligations, and dutifully participate in the electoral system in order to guarantee that democracy works for the people's interests; and WHEREAS, An eligible citizen shall not be prevented from registering to vote or barred from the right to vote by his or her ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, or disability, nor a test of land, literacy, or fluency; and WHEREAS, Every movement toward universal suffrage, from the inclusion of African Americans to the inclusion of women, strengthens the social fabric; and WHEREAS, Party affiliation, or lack thereof, should not hinder the state from registering voters; and WHEREAS, The purpose of Online Voter Registration Day is to encourage participation in democracy and register eligible voters in the state; and WHEREAS, Approximately 24 percent of eligible voters in the state are not registered to vote; and WHEREAS, Many eligible voters either miss the registration deadline or do not know how to register to vote; and WHEREAS, An eligible voter in the state has multiple avenues to register to vote, including registering at a local public assistance or disability service agency or at the Department of Motor Vehicles, completing and mailing a voter registration card available at all United States post offices, or registering online at the Secretary of State's voter registration Internet Web site; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That September 19, 2013, be proclaimed as Online Voter Registration Day; and be it further Resolved, That the Legislature hereby encourages all eligible voters in the state to register to vote prior to the October 21, 2013, deadline for local elections to be held on November 5, 2013; and be it further Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.