Tuesday is National Voter Registration Day and local counties are encouraging citizens throughout the area to get up, get registered and get ready to vote.
“The National Voter Registration Day which is held every year… is to bring about awareness to people to remind them that this is the time to (get registered), so you can get engaged in our democracy,” said Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Craig Latimer.
According the National Voter Registration Day website, more than 45 million people need to update their voter registration between presidential elections, with more than 23 million people moving across state lines every four years.
After anyone moves, voting information has to be updated - a fact that four out of every 10 people do not know, according to the National Voter Registration Day website.
To get information about voter registration and to see if any of their data needs to be updated, citizens can visit their county’s election homepage:
- Charlotte: CharlotteVotes.com
- Citrus: VoteCitrus.com
- Desoto: VoteDesoto.com
- Glades: VoteGlades.com
- Hardee: HardeeCountyElections.com
- Hernando: HernandoVotes.com
- Highlands: VoteHighlands.com
- Hillsborough: VoteHillsborough.org
- Lake: LakeVotes.com
- Manatee: VoteManatee.com
- Osceola: VoteOsceola.com
- Pasco: PascoVotes.com
- Pinellas: VotePinellas.com
- Polk: PolkElections.com
- Sarasota: SarasotaVotes.com
- Sumter: SumterElections.org
“We talk all the time about how even location elections - school board, county commission - they impact you a lot more sometimes than federal legislation because they’re the ones that are at your pocket book all the time,” Latimer said. “So we encourage people to get out and register, but more importantly, once you’re registered, get out and vote.”
Latimer visited various registration pop-up centers at Hillsborough County, including Steinbrenner High School in Lutz.
"We hold voter registration drives at the high schools twice a year, but Steinbrenner High School reached out to us with a specific request to help them celebrate,” said Latimer.
“National Voter Registration Day is one of the best opportunities out there for election administrators to connect with the eligible voters of their communities.” said Steve Simon, Secretary of State of Minnesota and National Voter Registration Day Steering Committee member.
There are many ways to register including: online at the official county’s Supervisor of Elections websites; at any of the local libraries where registration paperwork is available; or at any Supervisor of Election Offices.
For more information and a list of events see NationalVoterRegistrationDay.org.
