JAMES SIMPSON: In a recent article we discussed the possibility that Democrats will introduce universal voter registration (UVR) legislation this year, and offered that as an explanation for their seeming carelessness in the face of plummeting poll numbers. John Fund of the Wall Street Journal was quoted in the article as asserting that UVR will open the nation up to massive vote fraud. The reasons are straightforward and many: 1. registering people using existing government databases will result in many duplicates; 2. many of the lists contain names of illegal immigrants; 3. the list could be expanded to include felons currently ineligible to vote.

The notion of universal voter registration has been, like most leftist agenda items, a long time in the making, but flying beneath the radar for all but those paying close attention. As a result, most of us are behind the curve. The left can thus present universal voter registration as a much-needed “reform,” with talking points and ready answers to objections all lined up, while the rest of us struggle to assess the damage it will do. But it will do damage, potentially permanent damage to our representative republic.

Most of the calls for UVR cite the fact that about 30 percent of eligible voters remain unregistered. (In the last election cycle 29 percent were not registered.) The radical left Nation magazine effuses:

It doesn’t have to be this way. Registration rates in other countries frequently run upwards of 90 percent (both Canada and France hit that mark, for example, while Venezuela stands at roughly 94 percent, and Russia about 97).

Venezuela and Russia. How has voter registration worked out for them? Not exactly the role models for democracy if you ask me, but then for the folks at Nation, they’re all of a piece. Just ask Bill Ayers.

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