THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Saturday, September 9, 1995            TAG: 9509080001
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A10  EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Editorial 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   43 lines

NEITHER PARTY PROFITS FROM NEW REGISTRATION LAW: MOTOR-VOTER INDEPENDENTS

One might assume that the two greatest surges in the number of Americans registered to vote would have occurred when women won the right to vote and when the minimum voting age was lowered to 18.

That assumption is wrong.

The greatest surge - more than 5 million registrations to vote - occurred in the first eight months of this year. ``There's never been a massive registration like this in such a brief period in all of the country's political history,'' said Lloyd Leonard, an elections specialist for the League of Women Voters.

The reason for the surge is the popularly called federal ``motor-voter'' law, which provides for registering by mail or when obtaining or renewing a driver's license or seeking public assistance.

The new law took effect in most states the first of the year, though not in Virginia, where state Attorney General James S. Gilmore III, at Gov. George F. Allen's urging, is suing the federal government to block its implementation.

Traditionally Republicans have resisted, and Democrats have supported, making voter registration easier. The shared assumption is that easier registration means more low-income voters, who tend to vote Democratic.

That assumption, too, appears to be wrong, so far. According to a New York Times report, ``Early signs are that the biggest surge has been toward the independent column, confirming recent turnouts, which have also had a rise in independent voting.''

Virginia already ranks near the bottom in percentage of citizens registered to vote. Opposing the motor-voter law will only lower that unenviable ranking. In a democracy, as many people should vote as possible, and the fewer obstacles to voting the better.

Of course the lack of motor-voter registration in Virginia is no excuse for not registering. And the number of the motor-voter registrants who actually vote remains to be seen. by CNB