Brennan Center PSA Tells Voters: Register Now, & Here’s How

By Freddi Goldstein, a Fall 2012 Leadership Conference Education Fund Intern

The Brennan Center for Justice recently released a public service announcement informing people on how to ensure that their vote is counted this November.

The PSA highlights the ongoing battle over restrictive voter laws. Thus far, 19 states have passed laws that make it harder to register to vote and to cast your ballot. These changes include photo ID requirements, shortened registration or early voting periods, longer residency requirements, and changed polling places. This PSA provides resources that people can use to educate voters on their state registration requirements and deadlines, how to vote and where to vote.

As Election Day rapidly approaches, so do state deadlines for voter registration, with some as soon as next Tuesday, October 9. According to a Huffington Post op-ed by Erik Opsal, senior communications coordinator at the Brennan Center, 51 million Americans have not yet registered to vote. In light of recent efforts to disenfranchise millions of voters, it is even more important to be counted this November. Every American should have a voice in issues that affect them. Every eligible voter should cast their ballots and be counted.

The Brennan Center and other civil rights groups, including The Leadership Conference Education Fund, are working to increase access to the polls in the face of voter suppression efforts across the country. For more information, check out this Education Fund video, part of the Every Voter Counts Campaign, highlighting the work of activists fighting for voting rights in Wisconsin, Ohio, and Colorado.