The League of Women Voters and Vote Everywhere Club assisted students around campus in registering to vote for the November election for National Voter Registration Day. The organizations registered a total of 150 people on campus to vote at the booths around Iowa State’s campus according to Karen Kedrowski, head of the League of Women Voters and director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center.

“This year had a positive turnout, especially considering the COVID-19 pandemic,” Kedrowski said.

The event was sponsored by the Vote Everywhere by Andrew Goodman Foundation.

“2019 was less exciting for us since it was an off year, but with this year it has been full of excitement and positivity,” Kedrowski said. 

All organizations that participated in Tuesday’s voter registration are nonpartisan.

Both committee groups encourage everyone to vote. Kedrowski said many student voters believe their voice doesn’t matter when it comes to casting their vote and developing a habit to register to vote can help start a change.

“We want voters to be educated on how to vote and also be educated about the candidates they are voting for,” Kedrowski said. 

Being informed about the candidates who are in the election can make casting your vote easier, nonpartisan sites such as vote411.org, votesmart.org and ballotpedia.org can help make the decision, Kedrowski said.

There can be confusion surrounding registration. Every state has different ways of registering and requirements involved.

“Many more students have already registered online, which is amazing to us, because we know they are already on top of things,” said Barbara Pedersen, a third year League of Women Voters member.

Make sure to look for bus advertisements with more information about the upcoming election on CyRide throughout the next couple months on campus. 

“Everyone was happy to come register and it was nice to see so many eager faces,” said Sean McDermott, a volunteer at the registration booth.

The deadline for voter registration is Oct. 25 at 5 p.m. and to find in-person voting locations visit vot.iastate.edu.