With less than two months to go until Election Day (Tuesday,
Nov. 6), making sure that all eligible Americans are registered to vote is of
utmost importance. Next Tuesday, September 25, a national day of action will
bring together volunteers, celebrities, and organizations from across the
country to "hit the streets" for National Voter Registration Day.
This coordinated effort will help to raise awareness of pending voter registration
deadlines and opportunities.
An important reason for National Voter Registration Day is to
counter voter
suppression efforts in states like Florida,
Ohio,
and Maine.
I listened in on a media conference call with Myrna Perez, Senior Counsel for
the Democracy Program of the Brennan
Center for Justice. The Center is supporting action to educate the public
about the impact of new restrictive voter laws on registration efforts, and stressing
the importance of registering to vote.
“Our goal is for communities across the country to become
fully educated about rights and opportunities. Voting is important: it gives us
a voice on how our country runs, and allows us to influence policy decisions
that affect our daily lives. All Americans are equal on Election Day,” says
Perez.
The nonpartisan “Election
Protection” coalition provides useful information for local groups to
identify barriers and issues to voter registration. To report a problem or for
general elections/voting questions, call:1-866-OUR-VOTE or email info@866ourvote.org. Spanish-speakers may
call 888-VE -Y-VOTA to get more information.
Young people are among the most under-represented group of
eligible voters in any general election. In the Latino community, the
disparities are large. Half of all eligible Latino voters are under 40 and 33%
are between 18 and 34. There are about 9 million American Latino youth in the U.S.,
but only a small fraction vote. The national group Voto Latino is working to get
the attention of Latino youth is by “meeting young voters where they are.”
“We want to speak to them, and not at them,” says Dan McSwain,
who works for Voto Latino, a nonpartisan voter registration organization which
has enlisted celebrity power to raise awareness about the importance of voter
registration.
According to McSwain, as many as 6 million people in 2008 said
they did not vote because they did not know or forgot about the registration deadline
in their state.
Check out Voto Latino’s very cool FaceBook app. Pledge to
register to vote, and get a special code to download on iTunes a 35-song sampler
from Latin artists like Pitbull, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Domino Saints, Los Tigres
Del Norte, and more.
Close to Home
If you live in Oregon,
the voter registration deadline is Tuesday, Oct. 16. It’s easy to register to
vote online, via oregonvotes.gov. If you
have moved residences since the last election, it’s important to check and
update your registration information. The post office will not forward ballots
to new addresses, so make sure that Oregon Votes has your latest address on
file.
In Washington,
the voter registration deadline is Monday, October 8. To register online, visit
www.sos.wa.gov/elections. If you
know an eligible voter who do not have access to a computer but needs a Washington voter
registration form in a language other than English, you may click on the links
below to print out the form: