The deadline to register to vote is Friday. Here’s how to do it, and why you should
As you’ve probably noticed from the political ads on TV, the lawn signs all over Charlotte and the Facebook rants from your Uncle Jimmy, we have a pretty big election coming up in November.
Election Day is nearly a month away and early voting doesn’t start until next week, but a super important deadline for N.C. voters is coming up this week: The deadline to register to vote in the November election is Friday, Oct. 14.
If you don’t register, you don’t vote, which means you don’t get one of those cool “I voted” stickers to wear around the office. And, in my opinion, if you don’t vote you don’t get to complain about any dumb decisions elected officials make.
How to get registered to vote
If you think you’re already registered to vote, you should check your voter registration and make sure nothing has changed and that your address is accurate. That’s important to ensure you’re voting for the right people in local elections. You can check your Mecklenburg County voter registration here, and update/change your address here.
In order to register to vote, you must be:
– A U.S. citizen.
– A resident of N.C. and your county for 30 days.
– At least 18 years old.
If you check all of those boxes, go here to download the registration application. (You can also find registration forms at local libraries, public high schools and college admissions offices.)
Fill out the application, then mail it to the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections (PO Box 31788, Charlotte, N.C., 28231) or drop it off at the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections office (741 Kenilworth Ave., Suite 202, Charlotte). The application must be postmarked or delivered by Friday, Oct. 14.
(If you live outside of Mecklenburg County, go here to find a general voter registration form and information on your county board of elections.)
if you somehow miss this deadline, people not registered to vote in a county after Oct. 14 can also register to vote during the one-stop early voting period — Oct. 20-Nov. 5 — using a process called Same-Day Registration. Learn more about that here. Basically, you need to fill out an application and bring some ID to an early voting site.
Why it matters
The presidential election gets the most coverage, but, as I’ve said before, local and state races matter more to your daily life. If you care about your schools, your neighborhood, development or House Bill 2, you need to pay attention to these local and state races.
In the 2012 election, 66.9 percent of registered voters in Mecklenburg County voted, which works out to 452,861 people.
According to the 2010 Census, there were 242,672 people between the ages of 18-35 in Mecklenburg County. And I would guess that number has only grown as the city has grown.
Imagine if all of us young people voted this year. We could shape local and state politics for years to come. It’s on us.
I don’t care who you vote for, I just care that you vote. Get registered, educate yourself on the candidates (we’ll help with that … stay tuned) and show up on election day to make your voice heard.
Photo: David T. Foster III/Charlotte Observer
This story was originally published October 12, 2016 at 12:26 AM with the headline "The deadline to register to vote is Friday. Here’s how to do it, and why you should."