This September 28, 2010, editorial in the Oregonian is worth reading:
Cutting off voters for no good reason: Oregon county clerks defend a 20-day voter registration deadline even though the early cutoff disenfranchises some first-time voters:
Excerpt: “Over the years, the county clerks that run Oregon elections have embraced vote-by-mail, online registration and other innovations that have helped build one of the nation’s most respected state elections systems.