Photo courtesy of seanmcmenemy
This past Tuesday was National Voter Registration Day, a nonpartisan effort to drive people to register to vote before deadlines prevent them from casting their ballot on November 6, Election Day.
The effort saw a strong wave of support from nonprofit organizations, celebrity advocates, and people around the country. In particular, I enjoyed watching Our Time’s videos featuring celebs imploring us to register—they range from funny to awesome and are worth 30 seconds of your time.
My note of encouragement is not nearly as entertaining, but it may give you a moment of pause…and hopefully motivate you enough so you register to vote.
A recent Huffington Post article noted, “more than half of the young people who were first eligible to cast a presidential ballot in 2008 do not know today whether they are registered to vote at their current address.”
That’s kind of scary.
And then this: “According to the survey conducted by the nonpartisan voter registration group HeadCount, 52 percent of the youngest individuals first eligible to cast a presidential ballot in 2008 do not know today whether they are registered to vote at their current address, a legal requirement introduced in some states as a part of recent voter ID laws.”
In fact, “close to 50 percent of the 22- to 26-year-olds surveyed do not know the voter ID requirements in their state, which could keep a significant portion of youth from casting ballots on Nov. 6. It's estimated that over seven million 18- to 22-year-olds participated in the last presidential election.”
Motivated yet?
Register today to vote – Don’t let someone else make the decision of who our next President is for you.