Washington, DC – In advance of this year’s municipal and statewide elections, 2,000 groups across the country will mobilize to celebrate National Voter Registration Day on September 26, 2017. The National Voter Registration Day Steering Committee is calling on libraries, universities, community organizations, and businesses to partner in this effort by hosting a local registration drive.

“These local elections have a direct impact on people’s day-to-day lives,” said Judd Choate, President of the National Association of State Election Directors and member of the National Voter Registration Day Steering Committee. “They affect our parks and transit systems, the schools our kids attend, police and fire protection, as well as local taxes and the public investments they support.”

Every year millions of Americans don’t claim their right to vote because they miss a deadline, move, change names, or don’t know how to register in the first place. The Asian American and Pacific Islander community faces additional challenges. “As the fastest growing population in the U.S., the number of Asian American and Pacific Islanders who are eligible to register to vote has grown substantially. Yet the gap between those registered and those eligible to vote remains,” Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote) executive director Christine Chen said.

Chen continues, “APIAVote will continue to register our communities to vote, remove language barriers, and work together on National Voter Registration Day to encourage full participation in our democracy.” Such partnerships are essential to the success of National Voter Registration Day.

“Election officials like myself are largely focused on making the polls run smoothly and tabulating the results accurately,” adds Choate. “We count on community partners, who have trust and established relationships in their respective communities to help ensure that voters are registered and informed about the voting process.”

To sign up as a partner, visit: bit.ly/APIAVote-NVRD. Partners receive training opportunities, registration resources, and organizing kits.

Since 2012, over 1.4 million people have registered to vote or updated their registration as part of National Voter Registration Day, celebrated annually on the 4th Tuesday in September. National Voter Registration Day is endorsed by the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) and the National Association of State Election Directors (NASED).

National Voter Registration Day’s vast reach is made possible by a diverse array of nonprofits,  civic groups, election leader associations, and media and technology companies including United Way, Military Officers Association of America, APIAVote, League of Women Voters, Nonprofit VOTE, VotoLatino, Facebook, Twitter, Country Music Television, BET, Univision, and others.

Visit NationalVoterRegistrationDay.org for a full list of partners and additional information about National Voter Registration Day.

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For more information, contact Brenda Barron, 202-744-6095, Brenda@NationalVoterRegistrationDay.org or Karin Chan, 202-223-9170, kchan@apiavote.org.

Sign up as partner of National Voter Registration Day

Once you sign up as partner, CLICK HERE to receive free in-language swag (Vietnamese, Tagalog, Chinese, Korean). The deadline has been extended to Monday, Sept. 11! You can download the posters now.

CLICK HERE to read the offered in-language press releases and share with your communities.

Author: MI Asian Staff