Voter Registration

“Sunday marks the 92nd anniversary of the 19th Amendment, the constitutional amendment that granted women the right to vote. The League of Women Voters of East Alabama will celebrate what has come to be known as Women's Equality Day by helping prepare voters for this fall’s big election with a series of voter registration events.”

“Starting...Aug. 18, Arlington [VA] will be hosting a month-long series of naturalization ceremonies for some 3,100 new U.S. citizens. ... Also present at the ceremonies will be several dozen volunteers from the League of Women Voters (LWV) of Arlington, who will be conducting non-partisan, on-site voter registration drives.”

“After taking the Oath of Allegiance...the new citizens hustled over to the auditorium to finalize paperwork and, for many, to register to vote. ... That’s where the League of Women Voters of Arlington [VA] came in. ... With just a few weeks’ notice, the organization mobilized to provide voter-registration services for all eight of the citizenship ceremonies.”

Editorial Note: This piece was first published on my Huffington Post Blog. 47 years ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law to prevent voter discrimination.

“Condos says that in Vermont, he'll be working with the League of Women Voters and other groups to encourage registration and voting.”

“A record number of 95 students at Montville and Boonton High Schools [NJ] received an extra civics lesson this March and June when they registered to vote at their schools.”

“Voter advocacy groups say stringent state laws approved in 2011 kept them from signing up as many people for next month's primary election as they should have, although even with the new restrictions there are more registered voters in Northeast Florida than there were last year.”

“The League of Women Voters of Emporia [KS] gave the opportunity Sunday for citizens to register to vote at the Emporia Public Library. “We've been registering voters that had moved since the last election or maybe have never registered,” Ann Havenhill said.”

“State efforts are inadequate to address this issue. Third party efforts -- such as those run by the League of Women Voters, Rock the Vote, the NAACP, Mi Familia Vota, and every other third-party registration groups -- are essential to ensure we close this gap.”

“...Florida League of Women Voter's Executive Director, Jessica Lowe Minor, said those changes have allowed her group and several other to start getting people signed up to vote. ‘Not all of the law was repealed, but good portions of it were blocked, the portions of it that we felt were the most onerous were blocked...’”