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California DMV Wants $2.2 Million To Register Voters Ahead of 2020 Election

Publication: Sacramento Bee

California’s Department of Motor Vehicles is asking lawmakers for a budget boost of $2.2 million to help it register voters ahead of the state’s March 3, 2020 primary.

It’s a fairly small sum, but it follows a $242 million increase in the DMV’s budget that Gov. Gavin Newsom granted the department in June.

Lawmakers and Newsom allocated more money for the department because it is handling a crunch of customers seeking so-called Real ID cards that Californians will need by October 2020 to board airplanes without a passport. The DMV’s total budget this year is $1.36 billion.

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Democrats, such as Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, say the money is needed, given the importance of registering eligible Californians.

“It makes more sense to be fighting for our democracy,” Ting said. “This is a small investment to make sure more people can vote.”

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