Santa Clara County kicks off National Voter Registration Day Tuesday

SAN JOSE, Calif. - National Voter Registration Day is Tuesday and voting centers across the country are hosting registration drives. Santa Clara County’s Registrar of Voters plans to hold three events throughout the county. 

"This will be my first year being able to vote. In 2020, I couldn’t do it. I was 17, wasn’t there yet," said Sebastian Ramos, a 3rd year student at San Jose State University. 

Research data shows that traditionally, voters 18-29 have the lowest turnout in the country. Ramos has his own view about why some young people don’t vote.  

"I think a lot of people my age do see that some of these politicians are a little bit outdated. Our parents are their age, and they may agree with those views, but people my age, early 20s and teenagers as well, we don’t really align with that kind of stuff," said Ramos. 

Ashely Vu is a recent San Jose State graduate now working for the Registrar of Voters, helping to attract new voters through social media and marketing campaigns.

"We typically get our information from news articles or even social media as a whole. I think utilizing that as a way to spread information is really important, especially for the younger generation," said Vu. 

The Registrar of Voters will hold three events on Tuesday to encourage people to register to vote. They’ll be held at Santa Clara’s Central Park Library, San Jose State's Votes Festival and at the Registrar of Voters.  

"We’re still educating our voters on the Voters Choice Act. So, they can go anywhere in the county to register to vote. One of the most important things is that our voters need to know where to go. So, they can vote in person here, they can go to any of our 109 voting centers, or they can drop their ballot off in a drop box," said Evelyn Mendes, Spokesperson for the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters. 

Mendes says the majority of voters in Santa Clara County vote by mail and all mail-in ballots must be postmarked by election day. Still, she says the Registrar is prepared to handle any unusual activity on election day.

"We are prepared for instances that can happen at any vote center. We work really close with the FBI, with local law enforcement, security, the Sheriffs. So, we do have extra precautions, and we do meet with them, so we have protocols in case something happens," said Mendes. 

Mendes also mentioned that people are allowed to observe the voting process on election day, but they can’t ask people who they’re voting for, and they can’t block people from entering a voting center. 

For more information on voter registration or becoming an election worker in Santa Clara County, click here.