Tag: Opinion

Op-Ed: Tuesday, Sept. 24, is National Voter Registration Day

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WV Secretary of State’s Office
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Brittany Westfall

On this National Voter Registration Day, Sept. 24, the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Elections Office looks forward to efforts which get our communities “vote ready.” 

The electoral process works best when our elections reflect input from everyone in our community. Which is why it is not only important to ensure you are registered, but your friends, family and neighbors are, too. 

The first and perhaps the most important step to getting involved is ensuring you are registered to vote. Our team has compiled all of the information a voter needs, including polling places, deadlines, absentee ballot information and more at GoVoteWV.com.  Visit the site, check your registration and save the URL for when you need it.

Note that getting yourself involved is only part of the effort. National Voter Registration Day is meant to be a single, coordinated effort across the county to raise awareness of voter registration opportunities and register as many eligible voters as possible. The event is supported by election officials from both sides of the aisle along with every major association of election officials in the country.

Since Secretary Mac Warner took office in January 2017, more than 130,000 new voters have registered. As of Sept. 18, more than 2,000 new voters have registered just this month in West Virginia. 

On this National Voter Registration Day, Secretary Warner has said he hopes to see at least one voter registration drive in every county. Many County Clerks across the state will host their own events on this day. You can find your local office at GoVoteWV.com.

In addition, several organizations have requested voter registration forms for their own events. Note that any individual or organization can host a voter registration drive by requesting forms from our office. If you wish to simply register people from your phone, tablet or computer, let us know so we can keep up with your event.  

Remember, your participation in the upcoming election is key to democracy.  But you must be registered to vote.

Brittany Westfall is the Director of Elections for the State of West Virginia.

Opinion | What Makes West Virginia #AlmostHeaven To Me

West Virginians — and everyone who loves West Virginia — I have a small but very important favor to ask: This month, take a few minutes to tell the world what it is you love about our state.

West Virginia’s birthday is June 20 (birthday number 154, if you’re counting). The West Virginia Division of Tourism is celebrating West Virginia’s birthday with a list of reasons West Virginia is #AlmostHeaven to us. For the two weeks leading up to the birthday, we’ll post every day — on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter — a reason the Mountain State is an amazing place to live and travel with the hashtag #AlmostHeaven.

The idea is to get out the word about what makes West Virginia special. And while our list will be a nice start, it isn’t going to finish the job. So we need your help.

Starting Tuesday, June 6, get on your favorite social media sites and talk about West Virginia —loudly, proudly, and often. Whatever #AlmostHeaven means to you, share it with everyone you know. Post that great selfie in front of fog-covered mountaintops, or the one with the bass you caught last summer, or the family at a Mountaineer or Herd football game. Post all of them. And don’t stop there. Overwhelm your friends and followers with West Virginia pride for the next two weeks.

Think of it as a competition. The person with the most and best #AlmostHeaven posts by June 20th is the one who loves West Virginia most of all. And that, dear reader, should be you.  Not to mention that we’ll be giving away great West Virginia vacations to our favorite posts each day.

This is fun, but it’s also serious business. West Virginia has an image problem. Those of us who love her know how marvelous she is. But much of the world is blinded by ugly stereotypes perpetuated by folks who’ve never set foot within our borders.

Those stereotypes have held us back for years. They drag down our tourism industry. They hinder us from recruiting new businesses. They deter talented people from moving here. All of this is enormously frustrating to those of us who want our state to prosper.

Today, though, social media gives all us a way to fight back. In modern America, social media networks are powerful shapers of public perception. In the tourism industry, for example, research shows people now decide where to vacation based on what others are saying on social media. It’s a major factor in travel planning.

The upshot: Your #AlmostHeaven posts will do more than just convey your love for your state. They will grow our tourism industry. Most tangibly, they will create jobs for your fellow West Virginians – and maybe even you. If everyone who loves this state spends just a little bit of time during the next couple weeks posting, tweeting, Instagramming, liking, and sharing how great West Virginia is, the message will reach people across the country, even the world, to tell our story in an authentic, personal way. Your social posts will dramatically multiply the impact of our paid advertising.

So this year, give wild, wonderful West Virginia a birthday gift she can really use: the gift of grassroots marketing. Flex your social media muscle and let the rest of the world see the West Virginia you know. You can change minds and start breaking down stereotypes just by doing something you already do every day. Use #AlmostHeaven, and visit gotowv.com to see the very best posts and pics from your fellow West Virginians.

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