Fairbanks Daily News-Miner from Fairbanks, Alaska • Page 23

Fairbanks Doily Friday, November 1, 1968--23 A Close Look at the Central Arguments DO ELECTION PROBLEMS EXIST IN ALASKA WHICH PRE-REGISTRA TION MIGHT REMEDY? JUST WHAT ARE THE PROS AND CONS? LETS LOOK AT THE ARGUMENTS OFTEN STATED BY PROPONENTS AND OPPONENTS OF THE PRE-REGISTRATION SYSTEM. The Proponents Say: The Opponents Say: I WILL ACT AS SAFEGUARD AGAINST FRAUDULENT VOTING Precinct judges will have list of qualified voters before the election and a better means of identifying electors at the polls. Voter eligibility will be pre-determined with better opportunity for investigation before the election. Absentee voting will have tighter security checks. WILL NOT ENSURE FRAUD-PROOF ELECTIONS No system will.

Safeguards already exist in the present system such as penalty for illegal noting, right to challenge voter, bi partisan election boards and poll watchers. Fraudulent voting is not a problem in Alaska. To date there have been no prosecutions for illegal voting. I I WILL MAKE THE ELECTION PROCESS MORE EFFICIENT AND ORDERLY Number of ballots needed and their distribution will be known in advance of an election. Data processing machines, which the state already owns, can be used to store voting records, print registration lists, audit elections, purge the list for non-voters and deceased voters.

WILL INCREASE INTEREST IN THE A PROCESS AND THUS INCREASE VOTER TURNOUT Pre-registration is an act of citizenship which tends to arouse the citizen's interest in forthcoming elections. A citizen who cares enough to register also cares enough to vote. WILL INCREASE CONFIDENCE IN THE HONESTY AND INTEGRITY OF ELECTIONS This should also increase voter turnout. Voters' faith that only those qualified to vote can vote will be strengthened. WILL HELP STRENGTHEN THE TWO PARTY SYSTEM Political parties who now encourage voting will also encourage registration.

Once the voter's interest and confidence are bolstered he is more likely to become involved in political affairs and party activities. WILL MAKE OUR VOTING PROCESS UNIFORM THROUGHOUT THE STATE At present it is a hodge-podge with only cities requiring pre-registration. Voter must distinguish between registration requirements for city, borough or state elections which leads to confusion and disinterest. WILL BE A LESS EXPENSIVE SYSTEM TO INITIATE NOW THAN IN THE FUTURE Granted pre-registration will involve increased administrative costs over the present system, but these costs are justified by the benefits to be gained. Costs will increase with growing population only if the system is postponed.

WILL CREATE AN OBSTACLE TO THE ACT OF VOTING Fre-registration will mean another act for the voter on another day. This will discourage many. Preaent system more convenient for the voter and makes registration easily accessible with one trip to the polls. WILLBEDIFFICULTTO ADMINISTER Keeping registration lists current and accurate will both difficult and expensive in a state the size of Alaska. Population turnover will add to this problem.

I TEND TO DISENFRANCHISE RESIDENTS IN ALASKA WHO LIVE IN THE VAST REMOTE OR RURAL AREAS OF THE STATE Those sections of the state not reached by TV, radio and frequent mail service would be handicapped. It would be too difficult to make these votersawaie of registration instructions and deadlines. WILL INCREASE WEIGHT OF THE URBAN VOTE Discouraging or obstructing voting in rural and remote areas throws the decisive vote to the urban area. This endangers representative turnout on election day throughout the state. WILL NOT NECESSARILY INCREASE VOTER TURNOUT If the voter finds pre-registering too troublesome, voter turnout will be decreased.

In Alaska's largest cities where pre registration is a requirement for voting In city elections, voter turnout has often been disappointingly low. WILL BETOO EXPENSIVE Hiring additional registration officials, increasing staff and office space, more forms, more files, more records to maintain-all will cost the state more money. And these costs will grow as the population ii Pre-registration for Alaskans? The controversial question of statewide voter registration will have come full circle when the matter is put to the voters in a referendum on November 5. The State Legislature passed a Voter Registration Act this spring which, providing the voters approve, will initiate a new system of statewide registration. Preparatory steps were taken at the August primary election when state-appointed registrars began registering voters in each precinct and made copies of the law available to the public.

The process will be repeated at the coming election. Of course, if the referendum fails, all registration forms will be nullified and the present system will continue. Present System Alaska's present "instant" registration system has been in effect since territorial days. Registration for statewide i in A a a is accomplished at the time the citizen presents himself at the polls to vote. He signs his name in a registration book, thus attesting he meets voting qualifications.

Having signed, the. voter is registered and is ready to cast his vote in the booth. The procedure is repeated at each statewide election. Proposed Change If the referendum passed the essential change will be that a voter will not be qualified to vote in a statewide election unless he has registered before the election a Under the proposed new system pre-registration would not become a prerequisite for voting until the 1970 primary election. A person could register, in person or by mail, at any time throughout the year except for a 14-day period immediately before an election if by person, and a 30-day period if by mail.

A voter's registration would remain valid until he tails to vote at least once in four consecutive calendar years. The system also includes provisions for reregistering, elimination of excess names each year from the registration records, and posting of registration lists in each precinct prior to an election. In Other States Forty-eight states have some kind of voter pre-registration, from that of Vermont which requires no effort on the part of the voter but is simply a list prepared by local government officials, to that of Idaho which compiles its list through a door-to-door canvas by registrars. Systems in the other states vary, but most of them do place some responsibility for registering on the "voter. North Dakota is the only other state without a pre-registration law.

Voter Turnout The 1960 presidential election produced a record national turnout at the of the eligible civilian population voted. Hardly a figure to crow about, even if it was a record. Alaska fell cloae to the average when state by state figures were compared. In 1963 President Kennedy appointed a commission to study the reuons for failure of many citizens to register and vote, and to 'nuke recommendations on what to do about it. The commission found that the reasons for not voting in this country were both psychological and legal.

It recommended that specific steps be taken to eliminate "unreasonable, unfair and outmoded" election lawcand administrative practices which create obstacles to voting..