Clear way for more voters

When the young vote, they can change an election, as they did Monday, lifting Sen. Bernie Sanders into a near tie with Hillary Clinton.

An overwhelming 84 percent of the 30,000 Democratic voters ages 17-29 rallied to the Vermont senator, which easily made the difference in what had once been considered a lock for the former secretary of state.

For Republicans, the breakdown of voting by the 22,000 registered in that age group did not differ substantially from that for all age groups.

The outcome is timely, or overtimely, for one of two bills proposed by Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman. HB 2707 would allow 17-year-olds to preregister to vote when they turn 18. Once preregistered, they will be able to participate in party caucuses if they turn 18 before the November general election.

Unfortunately, the bill would not take effect until Jan. 1, 2017, too late for scrumming in this spring’s caucuses.

Both parties will miss the extra energy new voters can bring to a campaign.

Still, the bill should be passed, as should HB 2682, which would automatically register to vote those who buy health insurance through the Washington Health Benefit Exchange. The legislation is a clever workaround of the problem created by state driver’s licensing laws that do not require proof of citizenship.

Exchange users must have that proof, so it becomes a handy portal for voting registration until its computer system breaks down, as it did over the weekend. Those who use the exchange but do not want to vote will receive a card that would allow them to opt out, just as driver’s license registrants can.

How many new voters might be added to the rolls is unknown. About 500,000 individuals are covered by insurance purchased through the exchange, but many of them are children.

Wyman, a Republican, says the bills balance her party’s concerns that noncitizens will gain access to the ballot with the desire among Democrats to register as many potential voters as possible.

Although some wanted preregistration at 16 years old, Wyman says the information might become stale during the two years before they could vote.

The House bills and their Senate counterparts have Republican and Democratic sponsors, and HB 2682 has already emerged from the State Government Committee, albeit with only Democratic support.

There has been a hearing but no action on HB 2707.

If either or both of these bills passes, the next and tougher step is to get the new registrants to vote. The young are the least likely to return their ballots despite their tremendous stake in the future. Their enthusiasm for Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, wilts if the eventual nominee is a centrist Clinton.

But disappointment is as much a part of the political game as victory. That’s a good lesson at any age.

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