2.12.18
Suggested lead: Washington lawmakers are proposing to
pre-register 16- and 17-year-old citizens, automatically qualifying them to vote
in the first election following their 18th birthday. Dan Frizzell has
more.
Wrap (:60 total): Pre-registration of teens within two years
of voting age is current practice in some of the bluest and reddest states in
the country, and it’ll happen here if state Representative Steve Bergquist can
finally see his idea become law. It passed the House five times in the last five
years with bipartisan majorities, but that’s how many times the Republican
leaders of the Senate refused to allow that chamber to vote on the bill. Now
that they’ve fallen into the minority, chances look good at last.
Here’s Bergquist.
BERGQUIST:
“We’ve found that the earlier people register to vote, there’s a much higher
likelihood that people will become regular voters. Registering 16- and
17-year-olds to vote gives them the opportunity to start from day one voting as
soon as they turn 18, and that should make them lifetime voters.
That’s the ultimate goal.” [:16]
Bergquist, Renton Democrat, stresses that his
pre-registration bill doesn’t change or weaken voting requirements.
After yet another victory in the House, his bill heads for the Senate,
where new leadership has indicated a vote is likely.
In Olympia, I’m Dan Frizzell.