Alabama Secretary of State John H. Merrill on Tuesday will join hundreds of partners from across the country to observe National Voter Registration Day, a national holiday celebrating our great American experiment.
In 2018, more than 860,000 people across all 50 states registered to vote on this annual holiday. In the Yellowhammer State specifically, 7,617 new voters entered the rolls on National Voter Registration Day last year.
In a statement on Monday, Merrill outlined that his office has been working tirelessly throughout his time in office to register more eligible voters and facilitate increased voter participation.
His trademark line has seemingly become “easy to vote and hard to cheat,” as the state breaks record after record for registration and participation metrics while cracking down on fraudulent voting activity during his tenure as secretary of state.
“One of the things we’ve done in the last four years, eight months, and four days that I’ve been in office is ensure that each and every eligible U.S. citizen that is a resident of Alabama is registered to vote and has a photo ID,” Merrill advised.
“We have made a concerted effort to boost civic engagement in the state, bringing the total number of registered voters to 3,519,091 as of Friday, September 20th, shattering every record in the state for voter registration and voter participation,” he added.
On Tuesday, the secretary of state’s office will host voter registration drives for eligible Alabamians to obtain a free government-issued photo voter ID card in Monroe County and Wilcox County.
From 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m., staff members will be located at Beatrice Town Hall, and from 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., they will be located at Pine Apple Town Hall to register voters and issue photo voter ID cards.
The office will also be visiting additional counties in the coming months. You can view a schedule of visits here.
Additionally, Alabamians can always visit their local board of registrars or the secretary of state’s office in Montgomery during business hours to obtain a free voter ID card.
Alabama residents can register to vote or update their registration information by downloading the “Vote for Alabama” app on their smart phone or by visiting the Secretary of State’s website.
Merrill concluded, “We are excited to celebrate this special day that encourages increased participation in our electoral process! We will continue to work daily to promote voter registration and participation through our multi-media campaign, advertising, visits to all 67 counties, and various other special events.”
Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
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