Today is National Voter Registration Day

THE WOODLANDS, TX – The deadline to register to vote for the upcoming November 7 elections is rapidly approaching – October 10. It’s easy to let time get away from us; as a result, National Voter Registration Day was formed, and today is that day.

National Voter Registration Day is a nonpartisan civic holiday that has quickly gained momentum since it was first observed in 2012, with more than 5 million voters registered to vote on the holiday to date. Celebrated every September, National Voter Registration Day involves volunteers and organizations from all over the country hitting the streets in a single day of coordinated field, technology, and media efforts.

Residents of The Woodlands and all throughout Montgomery and Harris Counties are encouraged to take today to register. In Montgomery County alone, we have a total population of 678,490, of which 75 percent are adults of eligible voting age, around 508,850. As of the day before National Voter Registration Day, there are 421,399 registered voters in Montgomery County. While that sounds like a decent percentage (approximately 82 percent of adults in the county are already registered), the sad truth is that only around 42,000 – or 10 percent of registered voters here – actually cast a vote in similar elections. The Montgomery County Elections Commission would like to not only increase the number of people who register to vote, but also see a much more vast percentage hit the polls on November 7 and beyond,

According to U.S. Census data from 2020, as many as 1 in 4 eligible Americans are not registered to vote. Every year, millions of Americans find themselves unable to vote because they miss a registration deadline, don’t update their registration, or aren’t sure how to register. National Voter Registration Day efforts are designed to ensure every eligible voter has the opportunity to vote, creating broad awareness of voter registration opportunities to reach tens of thousands of voters who may not register otherwise.

The holiday is endorsed by the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS), the National Association of State Election Directors (NASED), the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC), and the National Association of Election Officials (The Election Center).