USW Next Generation activists from Ohio to Illinois to Texas helped more than 500 eligible voters get registered on Tuesday, September 22, as part of National Voter Registration Day (NVRD).
“We had no idea how many people would show up and it was so busy at times the tables were three or four people deep,” said Josh Lege from USW Local Union 13-227.
Local Union 13-227 partnered with the NAACP Houston Branch to host an event at Texas Southern University where almost 300 students got registered to vote or updated their addresses.
NVRD is the largest one-day effort of the year to register voters.
In 2008, 6 million Americans didn’t vote because they missed a registration deadline or didn’t know how to register. In 2015, our efforts with other partners of NVRD will help make sure that no one is left out in upcoming primaries and the 2016 Presidential election.
“One of the most alarming things I heard during our drive was that people didn’t know how to vote, where to vote or even figure out who is running in the election,” Elva Martes, Next Generation Coordinator in District 1 and member of Local Union 6621, held an event at Lorain County Community College – registering 80 new voters.
This year marked a new partnership for the USW with Chicago Votes – a nonpartisan advocacy and community organization that aims to engage young Chicagoans in the political process.
Members of Local Unions 7-507 and 1066 teamed up with Chicago Votes and other community volunteers and canvased the city registering 1,100 new voters -- 103 of those registered directly with the Steelworkers.
USW Next Generation members have been hard at work throughout the year as well. In May, Next Generation members from District 10 helped register 60 voters in the city of Pittsburgh; the Next Generation committee at Local Union 1066 in Gary, Indiana, has had various events that helped register hundreds of new voters; and Local Union 1-801 held a voter registration drive at Wayne College in Orrville, Ohio, registering 10 voters.
Because of this hard work, more than 2,000 people will be able to exercise their right to vote in the next election.
If you’re not registered to vote, you can visit www.nationalvoterregistrationday.org to get started online. And don’t forget to encourage your friends, family and union brothers and sisters to get registered.
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