VOTER REGISTRATION BY MAIL

Once again, the Congress is expected to confront the issue of voter registration by mail. This time, it should enact the proposal into law.

The debate over mail registration has already been settled. One by one, the arguments raised against it when the House defeated it last year by just a few votes, after Senate passage, have been knocked down. Mail registration has already been tried and it works.

In three states where it has been adopted, it has produced substantially greater registration. The experience proves the long-standing contention of the AFL-CIO that if election laws make it easier for citizens to participate in large numbers, they will.

Minnesota Governor Wendell Anderson confirms what supporters of the bill have long asserted: That registration by mail does not lend itself to fraud. Not one case of suspected fraud has been reported in Minnesota. On top of that, registration in Minneapolis increased by 10 percent in 1974 over previous years.

In New Jersey, there was a massive increase in registration over previous non-presidential years. So, too, in Maryland, where not only was there a tremendous gain in registration but another pet argument of opponents was wiped out.

They contend it increases expense. The Maryland experience was that it decreases cost. It eliminated the need to hire large staffs to try to keep up with the huge numbers of prospective voters who crowded registration sites the last few days before books were closed. In Montgomery County, the cost of such additional personnel, $34,000 in 1972 before mail registration went into effect dwindled to $13,000 in 1974.

The arguments for registration by mail are compelling, but the strongest is the simplest: It works and it increases a citizen's opportunity to participate in the democratic process.

The American Federation of Teachers strongly supported the "Voter Registration by Mail" proposed legislation during the 93rd Congress to no avail.

The American Federation of Teachers pledges renewed effort and full cooperation with the AFL-CIO to secure enactment of a law to allow voters to register by mail.