Question for Americans - How do you perceive the US voters registration?

Hello everyone,

I wasn't allowed to ask this questions in the askanamerican sub, so I came here and hope that's okay.

I am European and quite curious about the US-American voters registration. It simply doesn't exist where I am from. A person turns 18 and whenever an election is going on, you receive a letter and either you show up to vote or you don't.

I understand that in most US states people have to get registered every single time they want to participate in an election. Whenever I try to read up on the reasons, I find sources that look at this through a very European lense and therefore I wanted to seek out some American opinions.

\- Are there any reasons presented as to why you need to register or is it such a normal thing that nobody gives it a thought anymore?

\- Is there annoyance with it or is it accepted as "Well, if voting isn't important enough for you to get registered, then you shouldn't vote anyway"?

\- Is there a particular reason why you cannot get registered once and that's it? (Or maybe that's the case and I am not well informed?)

\- Is it indeed such a chore like it's presented in European media? (waiting in line for hours, very limited time frame)

I am aware that there is disucssion about how the registration makes it harder for lower income classes or certain neighbourhoods to participate in the democratic process. It's not my intention to have a discussion about this, rather to find out how the voters registration is perceived by the "average" American. If such a thing exists.

Thank you for indulging me :)

EDIT - Thanks for all the answers. Learned something new already!