National Voter Registration Day Set For Sept. 28

It may not be an election year but getting registered to vote, or updating your voter’s registration information, is still important, according to the West Virginia Secretary of State’s office.

National Voter Registration Day is the fourth Tuesday in September. This year it falls on Sept. 28. The day was created by the National Association of Secretaries of State in 2012 to encourage more people to register and participate in elections.

The West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office and the state’s 55 county clerks have been actively promoting voter registration throughout the month of September, according to a news release. By the end of the month, Secretary of State Mac Warner will have visited more than 30 counties and nearly two dozen high schools.

“The first step to participating in our democracy is being registered to vote,” Warner said. “If we can encourage eligible voters to register when they’re young, they are more likely to participate regularly in our election process.”

The late U.S. Senator Jennings Randolph from West Virginia was instrumental in lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 — 50 years ago in 1971.

During the last four years, more than 255,000 West Virginians registered to vote and more than 67,000 of them were high school students thanks to the 26th Amendment and Randolph.

There are currently more than 1.1 million West Virginians who are registered.

Eligible voters can register to vote online anytime by visiting a secure website at www.GoVoteWV.com. They can also visit county clerks’ offices to register in person.