How are you celebrating today’s special holiday? You didn’t know about this holiday? Since 2012, many organizations, including the League of Women Voters and like-minded groups, have celebrated the fourth Tuesday in September as Voter Registration Day. Wait, wait… please read on.
Events on this special day engage volunteers to reach out in their communities to make sure that voters don’t miss out on the opportunity to vote due to a failure to register to vote or to update their registration if there is a name change or change of address that entails a change from the mainland to territory or vice versus or a change from one state to another. Do you fall in either one of these categories? Or perhaps you know of a young person who will be 18 by November 2022 who should register to vote?
The goal of this year’s activities is to register one million new voters, reaching a total of 5.5 million new voters since 2012 who have registered on Voter Registration Day.
If it seems to you that voting doesn’t make a difference, it might be because more people need to be voting to make the change you want. Numbers matter and if not enough people vote, there won’t be change. Further, if you think your elected representatives aren’t listening to you and the other voters, it might again be that not enough people are voting for change. Your representatives cannot get elected or voted out without enough votes. So votes matter.
This year, register to vote. And then vote in the next election. Encourage others to vote also. Then see what happens. Call the Elections Office at 774-3107 or 773-1021 to find out the details for registering. Vote. There’s power in numbers.
Editor’s note: Gwen-Marie Moolenaar is the president of the League of Women Voters of the Virgin Islands.
