Editorial: Today's 'National Voter Registration Day.' Sign up and be heard

Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2021 -- Appearing and speaking at public meetings, protesting and marching, expressing opinions in letters to our elected officials -- all are appropriate ways to voice opinions. But there is no more effective, patriotic and powerful way to both express an opinion and force change than by voting. Don't give your power to others. Register to vote now and make sure you go to the polls on Election Day.

Posted 9:00 a.m. Sep 28, 2021 — Updated 9:21 a.m. Sep 28, 2021

CBC Editorial: Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2021; Editorial #8706

The following is the opinion of Capitol Broadcasting Company.

How do North Carolinians get their say and force change?

How do we let our elected officials – from local school boards, city councils and county commissions to state legislatures, Congress and The White House – know what’s on our minds and what we expect?

Lately, from news and social media video clips, it might seem the way it’s done is by arriving at a public meeting, styling a T-shirt emblazoned with an obnoxious slogan and screaming, red-faced, at some public official while threatening their health and safety.

Perhaps its storming the halls of government, assaulting law enforcement officers and parading around meeting rooms and legislative chambers.

In the United States, for better than 200 years, we’ve had a more rational approach.

Voting. It doesn’t cost anything. Without saying a word, a vote speaks more loudly and powerfully than any politician’s soap box oratory or 30-second video.

President Joseph Biden, like other presidents before him, has declared today, Sept. 28, “National Voter Registration Day.”

“Today, the right to vote is being suppressed and subverted in many parts of the country by shameful attempts to restrict Americans' access to the ballot and the rolling back of decades of voting rights progress,” Biden said in the proclamation he issued Monday. “I encourage all eligible Americans to make sure they are registered to vote -- to check their registration status and ensure that their registration is accurate and up to date -- and to help their neighbors, family, and friends to do the same.”

“National Voter Registration Day,” comes just 10 days before the Oct. 8 deadline in North Carolina to register to vote to participate in local elections coming up this November.

In North Carolina there are nearly 7.15 million citizens registered to vote – 2.5 million Democrats; 2.4 million unaffiliated voters and 2.2 million Republicans – 3.6 million women and 3.1 million men.

That may seem like a lot in a state with a population of 10.5 million. But there are nearly 1 million people who might be eligible to vote who are not even registered.

The November 2020 election saw a record-breaking turnout of more than 5.5 million North Carolina voters. Still, nearly a quarter of those registered (1 million people) failed to show up at the polls to cast ballots.

To get a voice in government, just register and vote. Registration is easy. Any U.S. citizen (not currently serving a sentence for a felony) and who has lived in a North Carolina county for 30 days before an election and will be 18 by Election Day can do it.

Eligible citizens can register to vote when they get a North Carolina Drivers license as well as online via the state Division of Motor Vehicles. There’s also a voter registration form available online that can be completed and returned in person or via mail, email or FAX to a local county board of elections.

There are plenty of folks trying to make voting more challenging by limiting early voting opportunities; restricting the dates mail-in absentee votes must be received by boards of elections and manipulating the kinds of photo identification that must be presented at polling places, to name a few.

Appearing and speaking at public meetings, protesting and marching, expressing opinions in letters to our elected officials -- all are appropriate ways to voice opinions.

But there is no more effective, patriotic and powerful way to both express an opinion and force change than by voting.

Don’t give your power to others. On this National Voter Registration Day, just do it. Get signed up now and make sure you go to the polls on Election Day.

Suggest A Correction