CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Today is National Voter Registration Day, and with a historic presidential election just weeks away, folks are being urged to sign up to vote or check the status of their registration to make sure they're still eligible.

Interest in the Trump-Biden race is high, but so is concern about in-person voting during the pandemic, according to West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner. He said the state had one of the safest primaries in the nation. Now he's assuring West Virginians that poll workers will have the necessary protections and training to make Election Day safe as well.

"Going to vote, the people there will be expecting the voters to follow CDC guidelines, so everybody should feel comfortable going to vote in person if they so choose," Warner said. "But if you have any concerns whatsoever over COVID-19, that's where everybody in the state is eligible to vote absentee."

To register to vote, check your status or request an absentee ballot, go online to GoVoteWV.com. The deadline to submit an absentee mail-in ballot is October 28.

Warner said signing up to vote is especially important to younger, first-time voters. He said more than 58,000 high school students in the state signed up to vote in their first general election in November through a special in-school program. But since the pandemic shut down schools, that strategy has shifted.

"We've continued that with those points of contact in schools, and we have some high school teachers who are engaged as well and encouraging through their government civic programs to encourage students to register," Warner said.

A recent poll found almost half of Americans think they'll have difficulty casting a ballot in the November 3 election. And 83% of registered voters say it really matters who wins the presidency, up from 74% in the 2016 presidential election.

Support for this reporting is provided by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.




get more stories like this via email

INDIANAPOLIS -- Voting-rights advocates applaud this week's federal appeals-court decision to prevent Indiana from purging some voters from the rolls without notifying them first. However, they said there is more work to do to ensure everyone has access to a ballot.

Two Indiana state laws, Senate Bill 442 in 2017 and Senate Bill 334 in 2020, aimed to remove a voter's registration if it appears they'd registered in another state.

Barbara Bolling-Williams, Indiana state conference president for the NAACP, said neither held up in court, because they violated the National Voter Registration Act.

"The federal act requires that there is contact with the voter, you know, to say, 'It appears that you're registered in Ohio, is that you? Have you moved to Ohio; are you no longer going to be registered to vote here in Indiana?'" Bolling-Williams explained.

If a voter does not respond, officials need to give notice that the person is set to be removed from the rolls, and then wait two federal election periods.

Bolling-Williams pointed out other policies, like same-day registration, have increased access in other states, but Indiana's voter registration period ends 30 days before Election Day.

Legal battles around voter purges and other laws to restrict voting access, especially for historically marginalized communities, are not unique to Indiana.

As of July 14, 18 states had passed 30 laws in 2021 alone, making it harder to vote, according to the
Brennan Center for Justice. Proponents argued they are meant to prevent fraud, but Bolling-Williams countered lawmakers are not taking voters' needs into account.

"In this climate of not wanting people to vote, basically, we understand that if everybody has an opportunity to vote, then the will of the people will reign, and not the dictatorship of a few," Bolling-Williams contended.

Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., and Sen Todd Young, R-Ind., were among those who blocked federal legislation, the "For the People Act," which would have prevented many of the new, more restrictive state laws from going into effect.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Redistricting reformers urged the people charged with drawing new voting-district maps in Missouri to commit to putting the voters over partisan interests.

Gov. Mike Parson has appointed a bipartisan group of commissioners to draw state legislative maps. The Legislature draws congressional maps.

Caroline Fan, founder and president of the Missouri Asian American Youth Foundation, said in the past, map-making has been done out of the public eye. She wants to see more transparency this year, and stressed one crucial piece is listening to local residents about what matters to them. It could be a common place of worship, a school district, a race or ethnicity.

"This is our opportunity as Missourians to kind of hit 'refresh,'" Fan contended. "And if certain areas have grown, other areas have shrunk, to make sure that everyone is well represented, and that we have fair maps."

Fan added map-drawing tools are far more accessible now than 10 years ago, the last time new districts were created, which means it is much easier for residents to have a say in the process, by laying out their recommendations and submitting them to the commission at public hearings.

Missouri House and Senate commissioners have six months to agree on a set of new voting district maps before a judicial panel takes over. Fan emphasized the importance of community input.

"Even these communities that might only make up 2% of the state's population, it's still really important that all of these communities are heard," Fan asserted. "And particularly because some of these communities are really growing."

Block-by-block census data crucial for redistricting is normally available by April 1 the year following the census. But this year, it was delayed due to the pandemic and efforts by the Trump administration; first to add a citizenship question to the census and then, to exclude undocumented people in determining the number of representatives each state gets.

Parson is among a group of Republican governors calling on the Census Bureau to release the data as soon as possible.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Carnegie Corporation of New York.

TILLAMOOK, Ore. -- Like other infrastructure needs, the widening gap in internet access is affecting people across the country.

In the spirit of New Deal initiatives during the Great Depression, the nonprofit Lead for America has started the American Connection Corps. In 2021, the program is training fellows in 12 states, including Oregon.

Benya Kraus, co-founder of Lead for America and director of the American Connection Corps, said in both Tillamook and Morrow counties, where the Oregon fellows will serve, there is a need for infrastructure in hard-to-reach places, and also reaching out to people.

"We're, from the get-go, thinking about digital inclusion and literacy and making sure that it's not just about the build-out," Kraus explained. "It's actually about making sure that people know how to use it and have access to the devices and the costs that would allow them to be able to participate in the digital economy."

To date, the American Connection Corps has placed more than 100 fellows in 26 states. Oregon ranks 34th in the nation in access to broadband, according to the website BroadbandNow.

Kraus noted one important component of the fellowship is choosing people in their hometowns or who are moving back to their hometowns. She added the program's training focuses on solving challenges and building relationships.

"There's a lot of purpose and personal meaning that is fulfilled when you live your life in deep relationship to your place, to people, to the commitments to those people and places," Kraus contended.

With people stuck at home during the pandemic, the digital divide was in stark relief. However, Kraus emphasized underserved families across the country have known and lived with the issue for a long time.

"But I do think COVID has brought on this greater urgency now to get creative between public and private partnerships and nonprofit partners like us, too," Kraus remarked. "How can we team up together to solve one of the most pressing challenges our country is facing?"