I will register to vote in Kansas City. Will you join me in your own hometown? | Opinion
Tuesday is National Voter Registration Day. Are you registered to vote?
It’s a fair question because as of this writing, I am not — yet. As most of you know, I moved to Kansas City in June from Oklahoma, where I was a registered voter. Fortunately for me, and for many of you I wager, there are plenty of opportunities to register in Missouri and Kansas without delay.
You don’t have to wait until Tuesday, but it’s fitting to register on this commemorative day launched in 2012. There are many opportunities: the League of Women Voters of Kansas City, Jackson, Clay and Platte Counties are holding a voter registration drive. And you always can register at a Kansas City library.
In Kansas, you can register to vote at most county election offices, or online at votekansas.gov. My colleague, reporter Natalie Wallington, answered many questions about how you can vote and voter qualifications.
If you aren’t sure of your voter registration status, check your state election portals in Missouri and Kansas.
For those of you who have registered, and there are many of you, do you remember when you became eligible to vote? Was it a rite of passage, like getting your driver’s permit?
Perhaps it was the day you turned 18. For me, it was in college. A student ran through my dormitory halls yelling the latest election news. I realized I had a right — and a responsibility — to cast my vote.
Casting a ballot never a waste of time
For those of you not yet registered, maybe you think you can’t make a difference. Maybe you think your vote won’t count and your time is wasted. Maybe you think everyone else can do the heavy lifting. It just doesn’t work that way. The more of us who are registered and who do vote add a counterweight to the inevitable percentage of those who can but never actually make it to the voting booth.
You might be surprised at the percentage of people who can vote vs. the percentage that do. U.S. Census Bureau data tells a curious story:
In 2022, 74.5% of Missouri’s eligible voters were registered. How many showed up to vote that year? Only 51.9%.
Don’t get haughty, Kansas voters. In 2022, 73% of you were registered, but only 57% cast a vote. Kansas actually has a higher ratio of registered voters to actual voters than Missouri, but those numbers are nothing to be proud of. We can do better.
There is some good news in these meager numbers: the uptick from 2018 to 2022. Voting registration rates went up in both Missouri and Kansas, averaging about a 5% increase. I can’t say the same for voting rates, however. Missouri voters stayed home, from 53.7% in 2018 to 51.9% in 2022. Kansas, take a bow. Voting rates increased from 53.6% to 57% in 2022.
Still, why can’t we get those voting rates to match the registration rates? Big change could happen with three-quarters of the voting populace heading to the polls.
Excuses for why we don’t go to the polls
The Census studied this difference and asked people who were registered to vote why they didn’t. Most common answer nationally? “Too busy, conflicting work or school schedule.”
Other census nuggets included: Homeowners had higher voter turnout than renters; more married people voted than unmarried; and those who lived longer in the same residence had higher voter turnout.
Now’s your turn. If you live in KC, members of the local League of Women Voters chapter will be out at several voter drive locations on Tuesday. It’s free and for everyone, not just women.
Volunteers will be at Penn Valley College from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Volunteers also will be registering voters at the following six area bus stops from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.:
31st and Troost
39th and Troost
63rd and Troost
Pershing and Main at the trolley stop at Union Station
Vivion and North Oak in the Northland
Barry Road and North Broadway in the Northland
I can proudly say the entire Kansas City Star Opinion team is registered to vote in our region except me. Come Tuesday, I will join their ranks.
I challenge everyone reading this: Become a registered voter. And then, go out and vote on your next Election Day.
