Voting is the way leaders are chosen to represent residents at the Federal, State and local levels of government. Carrie Chapman Catt, founder of the League of Women Voters, stated that the vote was the “emblem of equality” for all citizens. In order to vote, one first has to be registered to vote.

Recognizing the importance of voting in a democracy, on Sept. 6, 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed Proclamation 3489, designating September as National Voter Registration Month. This proclamation states, “a disturbingly large number of citizens, who would otherwise be qualified to vote in Federal, State and local elections, are barred from voting because they fail to register to vote in compliance with State election laws [and] each citizen has not only a right to vote but also a civic obligation to do so.” This is still true so many decades later.

The National Association of Secretaries of State, also recognizing the importance of voter registration, designated Sept. 25, 2012, as the first National Voter Registration Day. It has been celebrated on the fourth Tuesday in September since then. This year, it is will be celebrated on Sept. 25. Many local chapters of League of Women Voters will be registering voters in their counties, cities and towns during September.

Register to vote if not already registered. This is also a time to check and update one’s voter registration if recently moved or had a name change. Check the League of Women Voters of the Fairfax Area website at www.lvv-fairfax.org to get information on the voter registration drives.

Also, check the League of Women Voters’ www.VOTE411.org website. This website is a "one-stop-shop" for election related information. It provides nonpartisan information to the public with both general and state-specific information about many aspects of the election process, including links to voter registration and local poll locations. In addition, users can access ballot information specific to their districts and compare candidate responses to various hot-topic questions.

To learn more about the League of Women Voters of the Fairfax Area, go to www.lwv-fairfax.org.