I'm pretty sure that's a reference to the midterm elections in November 2026
this post was submitted on 25 Jan 2026
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Aussie here, it sounds similar to our Electoral Roll.
You show up, they tick your name off (we have compulsory voting), give you the ballots and you vote anonymously and / or draw penises, drop it in the box, waltz off in search of sausages.
Basically, but replace it's compulsory with "you have to choose to register and certain things like felonies can take away your eligibility"
European here, i think that is how it works in most democratic countries but not how it works in the usa. You have to register to vote there and afaik you don't register at the government but at the party you want to vote for. But i could be wrong. I want to be wrong.
You register with the election commission (the government) but in order to vote in party primaries, you have to register as their party. You're free to register as an independent.
You either register with the Post Office(USPS) or with your city's/county's/state's government. For California you can see the registration form and options here(just click register and say yes and you'll see the form with options): https://registertovote.ca.gov/
You register to vote and, depending on state/county, you choose what party you belong to(Republican, Democrat, No Party, Green Party, etc.). You may need to register with a specific political party because of open vs. closed primaries where you MUST be a registered Republican to vote in the Republican primary and/or register Democrat to vote in the Democrat primary, etc.
California has a good website/page with more details: https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/political-parties/no-party-preference/
Again, different states have different ways of doing things.
Registration streamlines voting in that you don't need to bring ID, proof of eligibility, and residency to the polling place. You just show up and they check your signature.
Party declaration determines what party's primary you can vote it. It's to prevent people from casting spoiler votes to help a weak opposition candidate win their primary. Not all states do this: some ask which ballot you want at the polling place.
But...they still have to check that it's you who is showing up, so you still need an ID with photo or not?
You don't need ID -- they just ask you your name/address, check they have you registered, and check your signature against the one you gave when you registered to vote. If you're not registered you do need ID and proof of residence.
The current system gives you time to gather the required documents and recourse if the local government rejects it. It limits the ability of the people at the polling to turn you away.
It starts to make more sense when you consider all most people have are state issued IDs, combined with our political history of disenfranchisement -- particularly in the Jim Crow era.
Why are state issued IDs a problem?
I don't see a problem with getting a notification per mail some weeks before an election, which I then bring to the voting boot together with my ID where they check it with their list.