ALLENTOWN, Pa. \u2014 National Voter Registration Day is putting a spotlight on voter registration across the country as Americans prepare for the 2026 midterm elections.<\/p>\n
In Pennsylvania, the deadline to register or update a voter registration for the Nov. 3 general election is Oct. 19. Pennsylvanians can register online, by mail and at a number of government agencies, including PennDOT driver\u2019s license centers.<\/p>\n
For Allentown School District civics teacher Shannon Salter, voting and civic participation are subjects that extend well beyond the classroom.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re a coffee addict, you express yourself through coffee mugs,\u201d Salter said while showing off her collection, including one promoting voting.<\/p>\n
Asked whether coffee tastes better in a \u201cWhen We All Vote\u201d mug, Salter laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course. Democracy makes everything taste better. Is that cheesy or what?\u201d<\/p>\n
For Salter, however, registering to vote represents something much more serious.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the key that unlocks the door to start engaging and participating,\u201d Salter said. \u201cOnce you\u2019ve gone through the process of filling that paperwork and getting your voter registration card, there\u2019s tangible evidence that you\u2019ve got skin in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Salter runs voter registration drives for students and sees National Voter Registration Day as an opportunity to make civic participation more visible.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a way to make visible just one of the many ways that we can participate in self-government,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Pennsylvania\u2019s youngest voters<\/p>\n
Research from The Civics Center estimates that about 22% of Pennsylvania\u2019s 18-year-olds are registered to vote, compared with 82% of people 45 and older. Its latest data portal tracks 39 states and estimates that about 43% of 18-year-olds are registered across those states.<\/p>\n
Twenty-one-year-old Kamryn Tokar was among those who registered as soon as she became eligible.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen did you first register to vote?\u201d 69 News Reporter Bo Koltnow asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I turned 18,\u201d Tokar said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow come?\u201d Bo asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy grandmother,\u201d Tokar replied.<\/p>\n
Pennsylvania residents who will be 18 by the next election can register before their 18th birthday if they meet the state\u2019s other eligibility requirements.<\/p>\n
Salter believes getting young people involved early can help make participation something they continue into adulthood.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think as communities we could come together and think about how do we make it easier for young people to form that habit,\u201d Salter said.<\/p>\n
Pennsylvania voters can also use the state\u2019s online system to check their registration or update information, including their name, address, or political party.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ALLENTOWN, Pa. \u2014 National Voter Registration Day is putting a spotlight on voter registration across the country as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":287122,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120,40360,96537,14288,119396,28,4815,119397,61434],"class_list":["post-287121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news","tag-civic-engagement","tag-civics-education","tag-midterm-elections","tag-national-voter-registration-day","tag-pennsylvania","tag-voter-registration","tag-voting-habits","tag-youth-voting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=287121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287121\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/287122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=287121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=287121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=287121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}