Along with this year’s gubernatorial race in November, Cherry Hill will hold elections for the board of education and the township council.
As part of an effort to keep people engaged in every election and not just the presidential contests, the League of Women Voters visited the township library on Sept. 16 to mark National Voter Registration Day, a non-partisan observance the league started in 2012.
Joan Divor is co-president of the league’s Camden County chapter.
“The overall goal is to empower people, because your vote is your voice,” she noted at the library. “And we want to get out the vote, increase the number of people that are ready to vote and that will vote. It’s a big election in New Jersey this November.”
During the voter observance, volunteers get involved in their communities, reaching out to people in person and online to encourage election registration.
League members at the library approached patrons and asked them if they were registered, and answered any voter questions and concerns. Along with getting out the vote, the volunteers also helped ensure that registrations were updated and provided information on polling locations and candidates.
“One of the things that attracted me to the league is all the ways they find to get out and get people to vote and strengthen our democracy,” noted league member Bobbie Doose.
The league also regularly appears outside the Camden County Courthouse following naturalization ceremonies to get new citizens registered, and visits correctional facilities to register those inmates elegible to vote.
“If you want to have a choice in who’s representing you, you have to use your vote,” Divor explained. “That’s the way you choose … The more people vote, the more that the elected officials will be accountable, and the more likely we are to get the elected officials that we want.
“It’s going to be decided by the voters, not the people that stay home.”
Elections in New Jersey will be held on Nov. 4. To check a current voter registration status, visit nationalvoterregistrationday.org.
