The Oregon legislature last week passed a sweeping voter registration reform bill meant to add some 300,000 Oregonians to voter rolls by 2016. HB 2177, introduced in January at the request of then-Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown, will now go to the new governor’s desk for her signature.

The “New Motor Voter Bill” will replace the state’s current paper-based system with a streamlined electronic process. Using data collected by the Department of Motor Vehicles and stretching back to 2013, eligible residents will be automatically registered to vote, while also given the option to opt out if they want.

It is the first bill of its kind in the country, and it comes in the wake of Republican-led legislatures passing bills meant to hinder voter registration and turnout under the guise of countering voter fraud.

“This legislation is an important paradigm shift on voter registration,” Wendy Weiser, director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, said in a statement. “Where the government has the tools to ensure that eligible voters are accurately registered, it should do so.”

“Oregon’s new law harnesses modern technology and reliable information to make the voting process more convenient and accessible,” she said. “It will add hundreds of thousands of eligible voters to the rolls in its first year, cutting the rate of unregistered citizens in half.”

At least 29 states have moved forward with the voter registration reforms that replace paper forms with electronic “motor voter” processes, according to the Brennan Center.

Meanwhile, many states have rolled back access to the polls. Between the 2010 and 2014 midterm elections, 22 states enacted voting restrictions, ranging from photo ID requirements to early voting and registration cutbacks.

In 2013, the Roberts Court gutted a key part of the Voting Rights Act, making it easier for jurisdictions to curb equal access to the polls.