Could pre-registration help get young voters to the polls?

Turnout was tepid among Minnesota’s youngest voters in 2014, but a bill heard Thursday in the House Government Operations and Elections Policy Committee could help buck that trend, its supporters say.

Legislation sponsored by Rep. Dean Urdahl (R-Grove City) proposes allowing 17-year-olds to pre-register to vote, something 22 other states already have in place. It’s a move backers of the legislation say would help create more civic engagement in voters between the ages of 18 and 24.

“I believe in the value of heightened civic awareness” and participation in the electoral process, Urdahl said. “That’s all the bill is about.”

HF391 was laid over, as amended, for possible inclusion in a later elections bill. A companion, SF206, sponsored by Sen. Jim Carlson (DFL-Eagan), was laid over Thursday by the Senate Rules and Administration Subcommittee on Elections.

The bill would authorize 17 year olds to register to vote if they meet all other eligibility requirements. It would not, Urdahl stressed, change the existing age requirement for casting a ballot.

Dan Thomas-Cummins, an 18-year-old Lawrence University freshman, brought the idea to Urdahl. The bill offers young people a way to engage with the political process, he told the committee — something critical in getting them to the polling place once they’re of legal age to vote.

Seventeen-year-olds “will be much more likely to get involved in civics” and pay attention to what their elected officials are doing if they’re pre-registered, Thomas-Cummins said.

Secretary of State Steve Simon threw his support behind the bill, telling the committee that fewer than 20 percent of registered 18-24 year olds cast a ballot in last November’s general election.

“It really is about getting good habits started early,” Simon said.