One of the several electoral law reform proposals which the Carter administration has made to Congress calls for the election day registration of voters in federal elections. Any citizen who wished to vote for president, vice president, U.S. senator and representative need only go to the polling place on election day, register and cast his ballot, subject only to appropriate requirements of identification. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, DMass., has greeted the proposal as a “brilliant and imaginative” solution to the confusion and irrationality of the present voter registration laws in most states. Ufners are Y uoc-‘sw-…si-xp Widespread fruad would be inevitab e, whey claim, especially if polling place officials were overwhelmed with waiting lines of people. Some are afraid that the Republican party, which commands the allegiance of a steadily shrinking minority of voters, would be the loser. They point to the results of the last presidential election in Minnesota and Wisconsin, where election day registration was permitted. GOP congressional leaders, however, have voiced support of the proposal, apparently reasoning that the Republicans would stand to lose even more favor if theyx appeared to oppose somet ing designed to encourage more Americans to vote. Certain it is that election day registration would brinlg out voters in presidential e ection years in greater numbers than they have ever been brought out before. Millions of people are disfranchised every four years simply because they have moved from one state to another and have not established residency in time to be eligible to vote. There must be many more millions who don’t bother to register or always forget to register until too late, or who tune out of the weary presidential campaigns long before they are over, but who might. be moved to stir their stumps when election day actually came around. Which brings up yet another objection – that election day registration might result in a lot oz-fw-ms.-3lvr.irpmnlse voting bv a l0t of thoughtless people. If a person does not care enough about his government to take the trouble to register in advance and then to listen to the candidates and study the issues, it is asked does the government have the responsibility of taking him by the hand and leading him to the voting booth? But then, voter registration and voter discernment are not necessarily synonymous. Many people faithfully maintain their registration and faithfully vote in every election – for the straight party ticket, no matter who the candidates are. Ideally, the right to choose the leaders of their country ought to be considered so precious by Americans that they would overcome all obstacles to exercise that right. But if the obstacles , aren’t really necessary,why have l them’?