By Suzanne Potter, Public News Service
This story was originally published by Public News Service.
Today is National Voter Registration Day, and civic groups are fanning out across the state to help people register or update their voter registration.
Groups will be registering voters at the University of Nevada-Reno and the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, and in front of Sparks High School today.
Ben Challinor, policy director for Faith in Action Nevada, said voters can check the status of their registration on the website of the Nevada Secretary of State.
“Sometimes folks fall through the cracks,” Challinor explained. “Sometimes they don’t update their driver’s license as soon as they should. And so that’s why we’re out there, and they know that they can get that taken care of with us.”
In Nevada, voters are marked inactive if their registration card comes back undeliverable and the address is not updated. A registration is canceled if an inactive voter does not cast a ballot in two consecutive federal elections.
Nevada has 1.86 million registered voters, and 194,000 with inactive status. The group Vote America estimates more than 400,000 eligible voters were not registered as of last fall.
Challinor asserted everyone needs to make their voice heard on who will represent them at all levels of government.
“Not just at the federal level with the president, and the Senate and the House,” Challinor noted. “But all the way down to the school board, the state Legislature, the city council, the county commission, all these people are making decisions on behalf of everyday residents of Nevada.”
