The League of Women Voters of Johnson County will not be stopping at “yes.”
During National Voter Registration Day on Tuesday, the chapter’s members will be volunteering at their local libraries to encourage Hoosiers to vote. Mary Kooi, one of the founders of the league’s Johnson County chapter, said patrons who assure the league they are registered to vote will then be prompted to double check that they are listed on the voter rolls and to make sure their driver’s license has not expired.
The voter registration effort is integral to the league’s mission “to empower voters and defend democracy,” Kooi said.
“One of the ways we fulfill that mission is by giving people resources and information, so that they can understand public policy issues as related to legislation and know where to find information about the local, state and federal candidates on their ballot,” Kooi continued. “Voting is the way we express and participate in democracy.”
The League of Women Voters of Johnson County will be at the Greenwood Public Library and the Clark-Pleasant, Franklin, Trafalgar and White River branches of the Johnson County Public Library from 10 a.m. to noon and from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday. Volunteers will have information about voter registration, voting dates and locations, and candidates on the November ballot.
Also, Women4Change Indiana and its partners—the League of Women Voters-Indiana, Common Cause Indiana, Hoosiers for Democracy, The Circle City Links, Inc., Count US IN Indiana and MADVoters—are launching the “Lift Every Voice and Vote” campaign to improve Indiana’s poor voter turnout record. The campaign kicked off Saturday with a week-long series of events to register voters and educate Hoosiers on the issues that affect women, girls and families.
Both the League of Women Voters Johnson County and Women4Change Indiana underscored the urgency to get more Hoosiers on the voter rolls given Indiana’s chronically low voter engagement. The state has consistently posted some of the worst participation rates in the country, ranking 46th in voting during the 2020 presidential election and falling to 50th during the 2022 midterm election, according to the 2023 Indiana Civic Health Index.
“There is simply too much at stake for women and families in the upcoming election for Indiana to stand on the sidelines,” Angela Carr Klitzsch, CEO of Women4Change, said in a press release. “The best way for us to make our voices heard is through the voting booth, and we’re going to make sure we get as many people there as possible.”
Common Cause Indiana will be joining an array of member organizations in the All IN for Democracy coalition—League of Women Voters Indiana, League of Conservation Voters of Indiana, Hoosier Asian American Power, Good Trouble Indiana, Indiana Friends Committee on Legislation, the Indiana Alliance of Retired Americans and the ACLU of Indiana—to register voters at various locations in downtown Indianapolis on Tuesday. In addition, an IndyGo bus featuring “Yes, You Can Vote!” ads from the ACLU of Indiana will be on display.
“Having such poor rankings in both voting and voter registration should be concerning to our elected officials, but we have seen no concerted effort to improve these rankings since they were released earlier this year—so grassroots groups like ours must ramp up our efforts,” Julia Vaughn, executive director of Common Cause Indiana, said in a press release. “National Voter Registration Day on September 17th is a great reminder to check your registration and make sure friends and family are registered to vote.”
Focusing on young adult voters
HeadCount, a nonpartisan voter advocacy nonprofit with teams of volunteers in many states, including Indiana, is increasing its voter registration effort, particularly among adults under 30. The organization is also promoting National Voter Registration Day by highlighting a report from the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University, which found that 36 states are behind in the number of young people registered to vote as compared to November 2020.
The CIRCLE report showed registrations among 18- to 29-year-old voters were down 11% in Indiana in July 2024 from the number registered on Election Day in 2020. However, among 18- to -19-year-old Hoosiers, voter registrations had fallen 51% compared to November 2020, placing Indiana among the 10 worst states in getting young voters onto the voter rolls.
Kooi said people often tell her that they do not vote because they cannot find any information about the candidates running for office. She will direct them to the league’s candidate website, Vote 411, and other resources that provide candidate information.
Also, Kooi tells voters to learn about all the candidates on their ballot, especially those running for local offices such as township trustee and county commissioner. She pointed out that the results at the ballot box do impact all Hoosiers, whether they vote or not, because “so many aspects of our daily lives are regulated by laws that our elected officials make.”
The deadline to register to vote in Indiana is Oct. 7. Early voting begins Oct. 8, and Election Day is Nov. 5. To register to vote or check your registration, visit the Indiana secretary of state’s voter portal.
This article was published by TheStatehouseFile.com through a partnership with The Indiana Citizen, a nonpartisan, nonprofit platform dedicated to increasing the number of informed, engaged Hoosier citizens.
Indiana Citizen Editor Marilyn Odendahl has spent her journalism career writing for newspapers and magazines in Indiana and Kentucky. She has focused her reporting on business, the law and poverty issues.