Why National Voter Registration Day Is Especially Important In 2020

September 22 is a big day. Our election may depend on our work registering voters.

Over 15 million turn 18 years old in time to cast a ballot by November 3, Election Day in 2020. This group needs to register to vote.

According to Brookings, more than half of our nation’s population are Millennials or younger, known as Gen Z. In the 2020 election cycle, this group is expected to outnumber Baby Boomers. The states where the youth vote may determine the next President of the United States mirror many of the battleground states, namely Wisconsin, North Carolina, Florida, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Michigan.

Millennials and Gen Z may also decide whether the Senate flips from Republican to Democratic. The most watched Senate races – Colorado, Maine, Montana, North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan — have a significant youth vote.

Another underreported trend is the Black youth vote. During the general election, Michigan is an important state in the president and senate races. Michigan has the largest majority Black city, Detroit may play the same role as South Carolina, a state where most primary voters were Black (56 percent). The second primary propelled former Vice President Joe Biden to his frontrunner status.  In fact, one in nine South Carolina primary voters were ages 17 to 29. A slightly larger number of the youth vote was Black than White. As a nod to its importance, Senator Kamala Harris plans to spend today in Detroit.

Researchers from both Tufts University’s Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) and Harvard’s institute of Politics found young voters are highly engaged in this election. Compared to the general election in 2016, registration of young voters is on course to be higher in many states. But it varies widely from state to state.

One obstacle to more civic participation among young voters is access to information about voter registration. That’s why today is so important.

Eight years ago, the National Association of Secretaries of State established the fourth Tuesday in September as National Voter Registration Day. Today, stars, universities and other partners are participating in the 50-state effort to register everyone who is eligible to vote.

For the very first time on Tuesday, former First Lady Michelle Obama is going live on Instagram.

Following her message to make a plan to vote from the Democratic Convention, Obama wants everyone to “get registered and ready.” She has recruited an all-star lineup: Zendaya, Tracey Ellis Ross and Kristen Clarke, president of the Lawyers’ Committee to name a few of her guests to help spread the word.

Sisters Lead Sisters Vote is a partner organization of #VoterRegistrationDay. I am honored to join former White House advisor Valerie Jarrett, Voto Latino’s Maria Teresa Kumar and Supermajority’s Cecile Richards to host a briefing call with Vote for Her.

To learn more, go to www.nationalvoterregistrationday.org.

Holli L. Holliday is president of Sisters Lead Sisters Vote, a nonprofit c4 organization for, by and of black women.