American Notes POLITICS

One reason the U.S. voting rate is so low is that each state -- and even some election districts -- has its own tangle of registration requirements and procedures. The discouraging maze keeps many citizens from voting. Thus the House in February passed a sweeping reform bill that would permit registration by mail and at various state agencies. Most significantly, anyone receiving or renewing a driver's license would be given a voter-registration form to sign.

Last week, though a majority of Senators were ready to approve the measure, Republicans mounted a filibuster. Concerned that most of the new votes would go to Democrats, they argued that the reform bill would make registration too easy, too expensive to administer and open to abuse. With only two Republicans -- Oregon's Mark Hatfield and Bob Packwood -- joining the Democrats in trying to end the filibuster, reform forces fell five short of the 60 needed to cut off debate. The bill died.