Twenty-one percent of eligible voters were not registered to vote in 2014 according to what the Pew Charitable Trust called a conservative estimate in a study calculated using U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent Voting and Registration Supplement data.
The League of Women Voters, the national non-partisan organization whose mission is “democracy where every person has the desire, the right, the knowledge and the confidence to participate,” is working to change that.
- According to the PCT poll, most respondents have never been asked to register.
- Fewer than 20 percent of eligible citizens have been offered the chance to register at a motor vehicle or other government agency.
- The unregistered were more likely to say they do not vote because they dislike politics or believe voting will not make a difference, while people who are registered but vote infrequently say they do not vote more often because they are not informed enough about the candidates or issues.
- At least 13 percent of the unregistered, generally those who are younger and more civically engaged, say they could be motivated to register in the future.
National Voter Registration Day is Sept. 25. Many local chapters of League of Women Voters will be registering voters in their counties, cities and towns during September.
“Please register to vote,” the League’s announcement of the Month said. “This is also a great time to check and update your voter registration because you have recently moved or had a name change.”
The League of Women Voters’ “one-stop-shop” website is www.VOTE411.org.
To facilitate registering for hesitant, confused or busy people, the group has collected election-related information providing nonpartisan information with both general and state-specific information about many aspects of the election process, including links to voter registration and local poll locations.
“Users can access ballot information specific to their districts and compare candidate responses to various hot-topic questions,” the announcement said.
The League’s announcement sketches the history of Voter Registration Day reminding voters and potential voters that low voter registration has been a problem in this country, an emblem of democracy, historically.
“Recognizing the importance of voting in our democracy, on September 6, 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed Proclamation 3489, designating September as National Voter Registration Month,” the announcement said.
“This Proclamation states, “a disturbingly large number of citizens, who would otherwise be qualified to vote in Federal, State and local elections, are barred from voting because they fail to register to vote in compliance with State election laws [and] each citizen has not only a right to vote but also a civic obligation to do so.”
Fifty years later, the National Association of Secretaries of State, also recognizing the importance of voter registration, designated September 25, 2012, as the first National Voter Registration Day. It has been celebrated on the fourth Tuesday in September since then.
The announcement points out that voting is the way we choose our leaders to represent us at the federal, state and local levels of government.
“Carrie Chapman Catt, founder of the League of Women Voters, correctly stated that the vote was the “emblem of equality” for all citizens. In order to vote, we first have to be registered to vote,” it said.
LWV-VA is a non-partisan organization. It provides voter services and citizen education and advocates at the state level for particular policies that are in the public interest. The state website is, www.lwv-va.org, the local website is, www.LWVMCVA.org.
