Locals Involved in ‘National Voter Registration Day’

[bc_video video_id="5840098105001″ account_id="5728959025001″ player_id="Hkbio1usDM" embed="in-page" padding_top="56%" autoplay="" min_width="0px" max_width="640px" width="100%" height="100%"] Are you registered to vote? Tuesday is "National Voter Registration Day", the fairly new holiday was first celebrated on 2012 with the goal to remind the millions of Americans to register to vote before it is too late. Over 75% of eligible Californians are registered to vote, the highest in the past 64 years. Yet, organizations like the East Valley Republican Women Federated want the other 25% to get to the polls. The organization’s president, Joy Miedecke said, "People are coming in here because they want to get involved." She said they help voters register and walk them through the election process. She said, "We are registering people continuously and I will let you know right now that we have a lot of people changing their party." But on National Voter Registration Day, political affiliations do not matter. Alexis Rocha is a student at CSU San Bernardino, Palm Desert Campus. She is registering to vote in between classes, the university hosted a program to make registering simple for its students. Rocha said, "So far it is pretty easy, it is just basic questions that they ask you like your name and address." The University’s Associate Director for the Office of Community Engagement, Bryant Fairley, said it was important to get the students involved in the country’s democratic process. Fairley said, "I don’t think they knew that it was just that simple and I also don’t think the students know where to go." And informing voters now is a must, as the midterms are quickly approaching. The Riverside County’s Registrar of Voters confirmed the sample ballots will be send out by the end of this week, while mail-in ballots will begin to go out on October 9. Whether it is a first time voter or a seasoned voter, this midterm election is taking an unprecedented level of importance. California voters may register to vote by simply following this link. The deadline to register is October 22.