By Laura Walling, GII senior director of government affairs, advocacy & legislative affairs
While presidential elections get the media attention, “off-year” elections are a chance for voters to elect men and women who will have immediate impacts on their daily lives. Several states will be holding elections this November 5th. Voters in Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi will elect their Governors, Lieutenant Governors, Attorneys General, and Secretaries of State. According to Ballotpedia, more than 500 statehouse seats will be on the ballot as well in Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia. Furthermore, by the end of 2019 voters in nine states will have considered 25 ballot measures according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Every eligible American voter should exercise his or her right to be heard at the ballot box this year and next. National Voter Registration Day on September 24th, is the right place to start by getting registered.
While charitable nonprofit organizations like Goodwill® cannot engage in activities in support of or opposition to candidates for public office, they can and do promote nonpartisan voter registration and get-out-the-vote activities, and raise the public’s awareness of critical ballot measures. Many local Goodwill organizations are a community partner for #NationalVoterRegistrationDay by hosting voter registration drives and raising awareness on social media platforms around the importance of voting. The effort’s website provides a listing of National Voter Registration Day events across the country. Supporters can also follow National Voter Registration Day activities through social media on September 24 by searching #NationalVoterRegistrationDay, #VoteReady.
Founded in 2012, National Voter Registration Day is designed to create an annual moment when the entire nation focuses on registering Americans to exercise their most basic right – the right to vote. More than two million Americans have registered to vote on this day since the inaugural National Voter Registration Day.
