Maine Gov. Janet Mills signs automatic voter registration law

June 20 (UPI) -- Maine Gov. Janet Mills signed a bill instituting automatic voter registration in the state into law on Wednesday.

The law allows residents to be automatically registered to vote through the Bureau of Motor Vehicles by 2022, making Maine the 16th state to adopt automatic voter registration, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

"I want to thank Governor Mills for signing the automatic voter registration bill into law," Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap said. "This has been a long journey and it could not have been accomplished without the help of a lot of folks -- crafting this policy in a way that is practical, efficient and to the advantage of Maine's voters."

The Brennan Center crafted the legislation about a decade ago and Oregon was the first state to pass it into law in 2015.

The bill was passed by Maine's House and Senate on June 11.

"Implementing AVR will streamline Maine's voter registration system, simplify the registration process for Maine voters and reduce the workload for our municipal clerks," state Sen. Louis Luchini said.