One-Stop Shopping for New Voters : Politics: Gov. Wilson’s personal agenda shouldn’t exempt California from the motor-voter law.

Today, in a federal courtroom in San Jose, Californians will hear why their governor wants to ignore a law that makes voter registration easier. He should have a tough sell, because “motor-voter,” as it is popularly called, is a common-sense law that is already producing results that any civic-minded citizen should applaud.

In Florida, 3,000 people have registered to vote daily in motor-vehicle offices since the law became effective Jan. 1. In Kentucky, half as many people registered during January as registered all of last year. And in Georgia, 52,000 people registered in January as compared with 88,000 all of last year.

But California won’t be reaping the benefits of the law because Gov. Pete Wilson refuses to comply.

That’s unfortunate. The most common reason Americans give today for not voting is that they are not registered.

The motor-voter law strikes at the heart of this problem. Passed by Congress two years ago, the National Voter Registration Act requires states to make voter registration available at motor-vehicle offices, state agencies and through the mail.

Although virtually all states are complying, Wilson has resisted. Some suggest his resistance is political, stemming from a fear of a larger, broader electorate.

Wilson maintains that Congress overstepped its bounds in passing this law. But under the Constitution, Congress has the clear authority to regulate federal elections as well as the power to enact laws protecting the right to vote.

Wilson argues that motor-voter is a so-called unfunded mandate. Not so. This argument ignores both the funds the federal government provides and the fact that states already have the responsibility of registering voters. Motor-voter just makes it easier.

Even under legislation pending in Congress that would curb unfunded mandates, California would be obligated to implement motor-voter. Laws that protect constitutional or civil rights are exempt.

Moreover, Wilson grossly exaggerates the cost of this law to California. He claims that it would cost $35 million to print additional registration forms. But former California Secretary of State Tony Miller said the figure would be about one-seventh of that amount. In fact, California already had printed the new forms required by the law.

Even the Congressional Budget Office estimates that motor-voter will cost no more than $25 million nationwide--that’s about 10 cents per citizen. Washington’s secretary of state, a Republican, says that motor-voter registration costs less per person than any other method.

Wilson also predicts increased fraud. But motor-voter creates new federal penalties for fraud, and state voter fraud laws will remain on the books.

Motor-voter is one-stop shopping--government made easy. It will help ensure that all eligible Americans have an opportunity to exercise their right to vote. By any measure of responsible government, it makes good sense.