Michael Avenatti with another great idea:

[Kingofalldems]

Link to tweet

This is why GOP think tanks and their internet trolls hate him.

[Funtatlaguy]

1. The only argument against this is gop purposeful voter suppression.

[olegramps]

53. Pass laws with jail terms for suppression of the vote, gerrymandering, registration, etc.

Send a few of the bastards to prison for twenty years or even more without parole for suppression of our basic right to vote. They would think twice about screwing with the system.

[Grasswire2]

2. he forgot something

automatic at 18 isn't enough.

It needs to be irrevocable. IRREVOCABLE.

[FakeNoose]

10. People move around, they sometimes even change their name

So there has to be a mechanism to update and revise the records. It's required for Social Security and almost every other type for government "benefit," and it should be built into voting registration records too.

But yeah, I'm OK with the "irrevocable" part.

[YOHABLO]

13. Social Security seems to do a pretty good job. SS# eligibility to vote.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

34. As pointed out elsewhere in this thread, having a SSN doesn't automatically mean

a person is a citizen. Many permanent residents have SSNs because they have jobs and pay taxes, but they still aren't eligible to vote.

[meadowlark5]

3. It's so easy here in Colorado

All of my kids, when they went for their learners permit, were asked if they wanted to pre-register to vote! Then when my oldest was 18 and the presidential election came around, a mail in ballot arrived for him along with my husband and mine. Same will happen with my twins and they will get to vote in the 2020 election. And they won't be voting for Trump

[Ligyron]

25. Even Florida has something like this.

Apply for a driver's license and they ask you if you wish to register you to vote at the same time. Then it's vote by mail if you so desire. I haven't stood in a line to vote in years and I never will again. Ever.

Plenty of early voting though if you really want to show up and stand in a line. I hate lines.

States that make you vote on one day only - well, we know what they're up to don't we?

[meadowlark5]

27. Pennsylvania does that don't they? Vote only on election day?

For a state with that sized population, that's crazy!

[Ligyron]

42. Yes, that's what I was thinking when I wrote that but wasn't sure.

They make a big deal out of getting an absentee ballot too if I remember right. Gotta watch certain people in parts of Philly too, make sure they don't vote, err... I mean cheat.

[cannabis_flower]

54. I wish..

I could vote by mail. We can't vote by mail here (Texas) unless we are disabled, over 65 or will be away election day and the whole time of early voting. But early voting window is pretty long, and if you early vote, you can vote anywhere in your county. If you go on election day, you have to go to your precinct. I usually go the second day of early voting because the line is too long the first day.

[meadowlark5]

63. It's so much easier.

Especially if you have a lot on the ballot. I can just take my time filling it out, go look things up, go back the next day or whenever I have time. I usually drop ours off at the ballot collection at the city/county building. I don't want anything being lost or delayed in the mail.

[calimary]

55. Since moving to Oregon we got new driver's licenses at the DMV

and that was all it took. We were automatically registered to vote. Easy-peasy. It should be THAT SIMPLE across the board. In EVERY state.

[Trust Buster]

4. His idea of controlling state election registration requirements from the federal level would not

Pass muster in the courts. A lawyer should know that.

[Kingofalldems]

6. He didn't say anything about state registration.

[Trust Buster]

7. State registration is the only registration. The feds cannot usurp that.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

9. Not necessarily. Congress can, and has, passed legislation relating to elections.

Article I of the Constitution says: "The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of choosing Senators." So far Congress has regulated federal elections with respect to campaign finance and election interference, and the Constitution does not prevent Congress from "making or altering" other voting regulations - but explicitly allows it. The Help America Vote Act of 2002, intended to create improvements to voting systems and voter access, is an example of this. Unfortunately the current Supreme Court has been interpreting HAVA as narrowly as possible and has gutted the Voting Rights Act, so even if Congress were to pass such a registration law (unlikely if the GOP retains control of the Senate), the Supreme Court probably would kill it.

[jberryhill]

16. First we need the federal birth registry

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

17. Social Security data? A federal birth registry is very unlikely ever to be created.

I don't see automatic voter registration ever happening on the federal level; realistically the states would have to do it if it's going to happen at all, even if it is constitutional. More hot air from Avenatti?

[jberryhill]

18. SSN doesn't imply citizenship

There are non-citizen legal residents who work here and are assigned SSN’s.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

21. Then it's not going to work at all, at least not automatically.

Nice Try, Avenatti. The devil is always in the details, isn't it?

[7962]

38. Damn the details!!! Gets the desired re-tweet & exposure.

And thats all he's looking for.

[PandoraAwakened]

33. Thumbs Up for Citing Your Sources of Information

I hate it when people make "definitive" statements with zero backup. Good on you for showing that just because someone says so, doesn't make it so.

[brush]

14. If it's a bill passed into law why not?

[Trust Buster]

15. We will not have 60 Senate votes to pass it into law even if we have a President that wouldn't veto.

Second, the whole reason that Republicans are so fervent in their attempts to stack the whole federal judiciary is to prevent such action from passing muster. I believe that the states do have the right to regulate their own election registration systems. I believe redress in court should be sought in the case of abuse but a federal takeover will not happen IMO.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

35. The 60-vote rule is for ending debate (cloture), not to pass a bill in the Senate.

[7962]

40. You never know HOW many D or R members will be in a future Senate. COULD be 60 Dems,

its been there before!

[7962]

37. A GOOD lawyer should......

I don know what all the folks who are just over the moon about this guy are gonna do when he falls

[Turin_C3PO]

5. I like that idea.

Also, either make Election Day a federal holiday or have the election on Saturday or Sunday.

[Little Star]

8. Don't take away a weekend day from workers please but

I'm all in agreement with it being a federal holiday.

[getagrip_already]

29. But only for registered voters......

It would be nice if people who vote got something like an extra tax deduction.........

But giving the day to everyone is better than making people work it.

[BamaRefugee]

11. make the weekend day one of TWO election days..FIXED

[Autumn]

12. Yep. Automatic voter registration at 18 should have been done long ago

and get rid of the primary caucuses who disenfranchise young people who can't take a whole day off to participate in their future.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

22. It will have to be done by the states, but it's a good idea.

Some caucus states are switching to primaries because of the inconvenience - though caucuses have generally been held in the evenings and don't require all day. I was in and out of my last caucus in a half hour. But they do disadvantage some - but it's the elderly, the poor, and people who don't have child care more than young people.

[pdsimdars]

19. Bold SANE moves . . . it's no long the time for "incremental", GOP doesn't do incremental

[oldtime dfl_er]

20. It is a great idea

but he needs a PR person. If he wants to be a serious candidate he really needs people around him to check his more circus like impulses.

[LBM20]

23. He is GREAT!

[pioche4]

24. And it should be a PAPER vote! Oregon does this!

[oberliner]

26. Elizabeth Warren proposed this in 2015

[warmfeet]

41. Yep. NT.

[Kingofalldems]

43. So what, he never said he was the first.

He agrees with Senator Warren. So my question would be why did you post that?

[shanny]

50. Hmmm.

One wonders if all the people dissing Avenatti are now going to diss Elizabeth Warren as well.

[KelleyKramer]

51. Wow, that makes me like him even more

Thanks for pointing that out, good catch!

[kentuck]

28. That should be part of the senior curriculum near graduation day.

Even if they are not 18 until after graduation, they could register early. What is wrong with teaching them civic responsibility?

[getagrip_already]

30. the gop thinks it wrong to teach them anything.....

They prefer their voters to be dumb as rocks.

[nini]

31. Not a new idea - but needs to be done.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/2840

Let's see how it goes - depends on congress -- as usual.

[zentrum]

36. He's addressing a key issue....

.....head one.

[OMGWTF]

39. To this I would add 100% absentee ballot voting.

It works great in WA and OR.

[DeminPennswoods]

44. Motor voter is a federal law, part of the Help America Vote Act

In Pennsylvania, when you get your driver's license or state ID for non-drivers, you're automatically asked if you would like to register to vote.

Further, all males, not sure if women are now included, must register for selective service at 18. There's no reason why voter registration couldn't be offered at the same time.

[Honeycombe8]

45. I'm likin' this guy. But he's not a politician...

I wonder if he knows it literally takes "an act of Congress" to get that done.

Of course, if we have the House and Senate...the sky's the limit!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

48. He's a lawyer; he probably knows this stuff - but he's also a publicity hound

whose ego has inflated from all the media coverage he's cultivated to the point where he thinks he ought to run for president.

[Honeycombe8]

57. Being a lawyer is very different from being a politician.

Totally different skills.

It would help him actually BE a President, in some ways. But wouldn't help running for President.

You have to sidestep issues, answer questions a certain way, follow the talking points and a strategy. Palin's failure to be a good politician is what tanked her, even though she had a loyal following. She was so popular for disgusting reasons, but she tanked because she was a lousy politician. She couldn't answer a question correctly, even if she was given the answer beforehand.

[mtnsnake]

59. Something like 55% of US presidents have been lawyers.

[Honeycombe8]

60. 25 of 44 Presidents have been lawyers. 26 have been military.

Both things help a person BE a good President, I think. This is part of Trump's problem. He doesn't understand even the way government works, or separation of powers, or how to read. He doesn't understand foreign policy, diplomacy, what war means.

But you have to have good political skills to get elected. Or, at least I thought that, until Trump. Hmmmm.

I like Avenatti, actually. I would consider voting for him. I do think it's time we had a fighter, someone tough with the opposition. But not so tough that he can't woo one or two, when necessary.

[mtnsnake]

61. Very well said.

I couldn't agree more,

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

62. I know that very well - I retired from that line of work some years ago.

A lawyer can be expected to know something about the machinery of government and, one would hope, the Constitution. Prosecutors seem to be pretty good at it for the most part because they know the system so well. But other litigators, in particular, can be abrasive, arrogant and in-your-face. I ran into a few of these; their MO is pure intimidation - of opposing parties and opposing counsel. This seems to be Avenatti's approach, and while it can sometimes work to their advantage in some kinds of litigation it does not work very well in elective politics. Trump, who is not a lawyer but a con artist, succeeded as an abrasive, arrogant asshole only because he understood which dog whistles to blow for his audiences.

[Qutzupalotl]

46. It's not his idea.

Bernie and others have called for it in the past.

[blue-wave]

47. We should push for a constitutional amendment for mandatory voter registration

at age 18. If you are an American citizen and 18 years of age, you can vote. No if's, and's or but's about it.

I like Avenatti more every day. We need more fighters like him. More Democratic minded American fighters.

[tblue37]

49. Remove "mobile." from the URL to get the actual tweet:

Link to tweet

Never mind--I see the tweet In the OP now. It just wouldn't load at first.

[Dolly123Jimmy]

52. michael avenatti

can we please stop with this nonsense...stormy for vp?

[Scurrilous]

56. K&R

[Vinca]

58. That's a great idea.