When professional baseball went all-in to get steroids out of baseball, no one complained that it was trying to rig the game in favor of pitchers. There are legitimate ways to win a baseball game.  Using steroids is not one of them.

Elections in Colorado and our nation are in the same place as steroids-infested baseball was in past decades.  The legitimate way to win office is to convince as many people as possible to vote for you and your ideas.  Obstructing a citizen’s right to vote is not.  This coming November, you may have the opportunity to help restore legitimacy to our elections by voting in favor of an initiative that seeks to end this.

Proposed Ballot Initiative 57 would end the games surrounding the exercise of our right to vote.  Voter registration is an important means to safeguarding the integrity of our elections.  Those who do not have the right to vote should not vote.  Full stop.  But that is voter registration’s sole purpose, and it should be carried out in a manner that is minimally intrusive to the exercise of the vote by those of us entitled to it.  Can you imagine being asked to produce your birth certificate and photo I.D. before opening your mouth to exercise your right to free speech or before stepping foot into your place of worship?

With technological advancements, safeguarding against voter fraud is easier than ever.  All of the documentation necessary to ensure virtually all prospective voters are eligible to vote is on file with the state’s Motor Vehicle Division.  Proposed initiative 57 instructs the Division of Motor Vehicles to provide this information to the Secretary of the State.  It then instructs the Secretary of State to review the information to determine a prospective voter’s eligibility to register to vote.  If the Secretary of State determines that the necessary documentation is present to establish a voter’s eligibility to register to vote, it does so.  And, it requires that an opt-out notice be sent to the individual allowing the individual to opt-out of registration should that person be so inclined.

As if that wasn’t good enough, it will eventually save our state money by greatly diminishing the need for standalone voter registration expenditures.

This is a simple, sensible step that will take (some of) the steroids out of our democracy.

Jason Legg is the president of Strengthening Democracy Colorado.