That laws, and election laws specifically, are adopted purposefully seems noncontroversial. Yet the literature on the impact of electoral reform has failed to take this into account. To gain a complete understanding of the effect of election day registration (EDR) on turnout, it is first necessary to explore the reasons behind the adoption of EDR. Toward this end, I created legislative histories that are important descriptively, but more essentially serve to provide insight into legislative intent and the political environment that existed when EDR was adopted.

I approached the task of discerning legislative intent the same way in each state. Information required for the legislative histories cannot be obtained through commonly used legal research methods such as Lexis-Nexis or library work in a single state. Thus, I traveled to the capitals of each state that currently allows EDR and conducted archival research in a variety of locations, including state historical societies, state archives, state law libraries, state libraries, and legislative services offices.

My general approach can be described as follows. First, using the annotated revised statutes, I located the current version of the law as it relates to voter registration and traced its history. Upon reaching the law that first put EDR into effect, I examined the House and Senate Journals. When available, I then examined the relevant committee folders, drafting records, and statements of purpose. Other official documents as well as newspaper reports were also examined.