A fairly well argued case for universal registration. One glaring omission, however, is a discussion of the cost of the registration drives and the opening of communication channels between agencies that would be necessary to make this happen. I understand how universal registration could relieve some burdens for election officials, but I would have like to see more evidence showing how will prevent things like the ACORN controversy.

a simple idea which could be implemented altho not without more coordination than usually bureaucracies endorse. universal registration seems a logical idea for a democracy if the exceptions (some states felons, for example) can be taken into account. this would seem to take care of most of the mismatches which has wrongly purged so many voters. it would require a federal mandate which states would implement. it makes me wonder why this democracy having had many voting problems in its history is taking so long to come up with a method such as this.

Too late to enact for this election, the authors nevertheless argue effectively for a common-sense electoral reform.

This opinion piece has minimal journalistic merit. The authors apparently do not consider conviction and serving time in jail as "evidence". ACORN staffers and other Democratic Party operatives have been convicted for voter fraud and fined and/or given jail time in several states. Democratic state Attorney Generals are prosecuting fraudulent registrations. Liberal papers in Columbus and Cincinnati, Ohio have documented fraud by ACORN, in some cases registering people in the Ohio River.