For 15 years, National Voter Registration Day has been a dedicated day for making sure Americans are informed, registered and ready to vote in November. All across the country on September 15, thousands of volunteers will be out in their communities, making sure their neighbors are registered to vote.
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon serves as one of the co-chairs for NVRD, and he recognizes that the way Americans vote has changed, especially since the pandemic. “It's not just about a countdown to Election Day because really what we have in many places in this country is an election season,” Simon said.
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National Voter Registration Day started in 2012, and the make-shift holiday has grown every year since. From grocery stores to college campuses, these volunteers are armed with all sorts of election answers. For 2026, volunteers have been specifically trained for current hyper-partisan climate. Chyann Sapp, the campaign director for National Voter Registration Day says she encourages people to connect with eligible voters by talking about policies that matter to them.
“So whether they care most about their kids' food when they are at school, or having access to food when they're at school, or maybe it's access to affordable healthcare, or maybe it's access to affordable food - everyone has a connection to policy, and that is your in for talking to voters when you're out in the field,” Sapp said. But Sapp stresses that NVRD is meant to be a fun, celebratory day.
Elections in the U.S. are controlled by the states, which means the rules on voter registration, voting by mail, hours for polling places and more are different depending on where you live. “The difference between someone voting and not voting can really be just not knowing the basics about the rules,” said Simon. National Voter Registration Day puts politics aside and focuses purely on getting more Americans to fill out a ballot.
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“Who they vote for, where their political allegiances lie, what they think on particular issues - utterly irrelevant to what we're trying to do with National Voter Registration Day. This is all about the rules and the laws and the procedures, and making sure that every American, no matter how they vote, votes,” Simon said.
But after Sept. 15, this group knows their work isn’t done. They'll keep their volunteers active by switching the focus from voter education to Get Out The Vote efforts for the next seven weeks.
