Today is the voter registration deadline in Kansas, Maine, West Virginia, Oregon, and the District of Columbia, which means eligible voters in those places have until the end of the day to get on the rolls ahead of the midterms. The timing lined up with something worth watching in Washington, where 98 people from 50 countries were sworn in as U.S. citizens at a federal courthouse.
Many of those new citizens registered to vote within minutes of taking the oath. The League of Women Voters and other civic groups set up right there to help, turning a citizenship ceremony into a registration drive. It’s the kind of scene that sticks with you, especially for anyone who has put off updating their own registration since the last time they moved.
Across the country, roughly 174 million Americans are registered to vote, and 154 million cast ballots in the last election. Florida’s own registration deadlines fall later on the calendar, but the process works the same way, and some states even allow same-day registration at the polls. If you’re here on the Suncoast, take a couple of minutes this week and confirm your status with the county supervisor of elections. Have you checked yours since your last move?
