Join BadgersVote in celebrating National Voter Registration Day on Sept. 28 by registering to vote and ensuring you are set to participate in the upcoming spring election cycle.
National Voter Registration Day is an annual holiday on the fourth Tuesday of September that aims to help register all eligible citizens to vote across the country in the celebration of our democracy. Since 2012, almost 4.5 million voters have registered on the holiday, including 1.5 million in 2020 alone.
Bringing the celebration to campus, BadgersVote will be hosting pop-up voter registration booths across campus in partnership with the city of Madison and a number of organizations, including the League of Women Voters, Campus Vote Project, Andrew Goodman Foundation and the Urban League Young Professionals of Greater Dane County.
Students and Madison community members can get registered to vote, update their registration if they have moved and learn how they can prepare for spring elections in Wisconsin.
Voter registration sites will be held at the following locations from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.:
- Engineering Mall
- Union South
- Library Mall
- Health Sciences Learning Center Atrium
- Madison South Partnership
Students need to register to vote if they are a first time voter or moved to a new address. Before coming to register in person, students should update their address in their MyUW portal to their current address. Out-of-state students should also make sure they obtain a voter ID card from either the wiscard office at Union South or at voterid.wisc.edu.
National Voter Registration Day serves as a one-stop shop for students to check registration off their voting to-do list, says Campus Vote Project Intern Caroline Robson.
“Students should take advantage of it because we have all of the resources right there,” Robson says. “There’s people who can answer any question that you might have so you can just register and be done with it!”
One in four Americans reported not being registered to vote in the 2020 election. More than 600,000 non-voters specifically cited a registration issue as a reason for not participating in the election.
Knowledge gaps about voter registration are even more pronounced among younger generations. A 2020 study found that 42% of eligible voters ages 18 to 24 were not registered to vote due to issues such as not knowing how or forgetting, according to the Knight Foundation.
Though it is not a major election year, Robson says National Voter Registration Day provides the perfect opportunity for students to register and receive help through the process so it doesn’t feel so overwhelming.
“I think it’s super important for students because becoming politically and democratically engaged at a young age sets the stage for continued activism and involvement throughout your life,” Robson says.
Join the movement on National Voter Registration Day by ensuring you and those you know are registered to vote. Visit vote.wisc.edu for more information on voter registration locations and what you need to register, or check @BadgersVote out on social media!
Robson recommends students take the day to reach out to their friends, family and loved ones to check in and see if they are registered as well.
“You need to have those conversations to make sure that the people in your life are engaged, because if you don’t have those conversations, nobody will,” Robson says.
Happy National Voter Registration Day, Badgers — are you #VoteReady?