Tim Probst’s State Senate race against Lynda Wilson in Washington State has flown under most people’s radar. Yet this race, in Washington’s 17th District, will actually determine the future of automatic voter registration in Washington State, and impact the trajectory of AVR in the U.S. more generally. I want to make the case for the importance of that, and hopefully show how helping this little known campaign could have an outsize effect on the future of voting rights in America. And of course, I want to ask you to help the candidate out (and yes, I’ll ask you to donate, but I think you’ll see why it matters do much by the end of this).
Why Is Automatic Voter Registration (AVR) So Important?
Many people think AVR is just 1990s style “Motor Voter” legislation. In reality, it’s much, much more than that, and has the potential to utterly transform voter participation in the United States. I’ll let the Brennan Center explain:
Automatic voter registration makes two transformative changes to voter registration. Eligible citizens who interact with government agencies are registered to vote unless they decline, and agencies transfer voter-registration information electronically to election officials. These two changes would create a seamless process that will be more convenient and less error-prone for voters, agency staff, and election officials. This reform has the potential to boost registration rates, clean up the rolls, save money, make voting more convenient, and reduce the potential for voter fraud.
Or, if you prefer, here’s Bernie Sanders on AVR. In 2015, Sanders introduced the REGISTER Act, which would have required that states adopt automatic voter registration. After submitting the bill, on the anniversary of the original Voting Rights Act, Sanders gave fiery speech for the Drum Major Institute, heralding AVR as one of the most necessary fundamental reforms of the political system:
“We will make voter registration automatic. It shouldn’t be complicated. If you’re 18 years of age, guess what? You are registered to vote...Many other countries have 90, 95 percent people registered to vote. We are at 68 percent.”
The change from an “opt-in” to an “opt-out” system is huge in itself, but the constant updating of voter registration records via these systems goes far beyond merely registering people to vote. Because state systems would share information, it would also make sure that voting records were up-to-date and complete. Records that were wrongly removed, as we saw in this primary season in Brooklyn, would not be permanently removed since any visit to a qualifying state agency — a health exchange, DMV, Department of Social Services or the like — would refresh and update the records.
It would also prevent the problem of voter registration cut-offs, which often discourage young people who may not be registered to vote from voting: if you’ve had any interaction with a qualifying state agency, you are registered. Nobody is going to tell you you missed the cutoff.
The end result? AVR will increase the accuracy of voting records while reducing the risk of single points of oversight and failure, all while adding tens of millions of currently disenfranchised voters to the rolls.
It’s no surprise that Obama, Clinton, Sanders, Demos, and the Brennan Center all see AVR as a major plank of voting reform.
Where Are We At Now With AVR?
Well, here’s the thing: we’re at a crossroads.
Since Oregon passed its groundbreaking AVR law in 2015, there has been a wave of support for such legislation. Four other states have passed AVR laws of varying quality. Almost half the states are considering an initiative of some sort.
At the same time there is growing resistance. Just two weeks ago, Governor Rauner in Illinois vetoed AVR in Illinois. Last week, Governor Chris Christie vetoed a set of AVR bills in New Jersey calling them the “The Voter Fraud Enhancement and Permission Act.” Other states are depending on ballot initiatives with an uncertain future.
In Washington State, however, the dynamics are simpler, and we may be literally less than 100 votes away from getting AVR passed.
AVR Is a Fight We Can Win In Washington State
Washington State is two State Senate votes away from passing AVR.
We have a Democratically-controlled House of Representatives which passed an AVR bill last year, on a bi-partisan basis. Better than that, the bill was modeled largely on the Oregon law, and uses not only DMVs but agencies such as the Department of Health, health benefit exchanges, and social services to update records.
We have a Democratic governor, Jay Inslee, who is likely to win the governorship a second time, and who will sign the bill if passed.
The problem? We have a narrowly Republican-controlled Senate that refuses to bring the companion to the House Bill to the floor.
The path to bringing the bill to a vote goes through Washington’s 17th Senate district. This was the closest race of 2012, with Democratic challenger Tim Probst losing by only 76 votes. This year Tim is running again, not against an incumbent, but against Tea Party favorite Linda Wilson. Conscious that this is the pivotal race for State Senate control, the Kochs and other outside far-right entities have poured tens of thousands into this race, blanketing the airwaves with negative ads against Probst. The result is a race which may come down again to less than a hundred votes.
The impact of the race on voter registration is simple. Tim has given his full-throated support of AVR and will get it passed. Linda Wilson, his opponent, voted against it in the House and will certainly support her party’s efforts to keep it from seeing a vote in the Senate.
Did I mention this race was decided last time by only 76 votes?
Help Bring AVR to Washington State
There are many other reasons to support Tim. His background is as a wonk in Workforce Development. His signature accomplishment as a House Representative was the creation of a $200 million scholarship account to help middle income families afford college tuition (referred to here colloquially as “Probst’s Opportunity Scholarships”). When in office, he had a 100% approval rating from Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, and the full support of other major labor organizations, including the Washington State Nurses Association and the local IAFF.
I’ll also note that I’ve met Tim. Hung out with Tim. Even played a few rounds of Pub Trivia with Tim. And I can tell you this — his knowledge of mid-90s Nickelodeon shows is abysmal. But personally, he’s the real deal — with a level of good will, empathy, and optimism that can almost seem naive until you see how gifted a political organizer he is.
I will add, there are many other good reasons to flip the Senate here, which has pushed anti-trans legislation, attempted to restrict access to abortion, and driven even our mild-mannered Democratic governor to proclaim them as “out of control”.
But the truth is, if our Democratic governor wins but the Senate doesn’t flip, we can probably survive these things through the power of veto. Not thrive, but survive.
On the other hand, if we can’t flip the Senate, we will lose the chance to radically expand the voting franchise and to regain the forward momentum of voting rights initiatives nationally. For those looking to move the AVR movement forward, there is no better chance than this race. This is a race that could legitimately be decided on $20 donations, but the impact is huge.
Tim lost last time by 76 votes. Let’s give him the funding he needs to fight the national right-wing negative campaign against him. This is a right-leaning district, but with monetary support Tim can win it.
Click here to donate just $5 to help Tim bring AVR to Washington State! (For small donations, use the “other” option).