By Dylan Whitely, Senior Reporter
The time when voters make their voices heard is coming up, and local election board officials hope college students will get involved.
With the Nov. 8 general election a little more than a month away, the Woods County Election Board wants people to register to vote, including eligible Northwestern students.
People who have not registered to vote and would like to have several options, said Linda Beeler, the assistant secretary at the election board. They can come to the Woods County Election Board office, 427 Barnes Ave. in the Downtown Mall building, and get registered there.
The office has informational material that gives future voters answers to questions they may have.
Future voters can also register from a cell phone or computer by logging onto the Oklahoma State Election Board’s website, elections.ok.gov, and choosing options from the webpage menu.
The website is a helpful tool for voters because they can get more information about elections and change their registration information, Beeler said.
College students who are at least 18 years old, are U.S. citizens residing in Oklahoma and have not been convicted of a felony can register to vote
in Woods County, according to the state election board’s guidelines.
Oklahoma students who are registered in their home county and cannot make it back to their local polls can change their registration information and vote in Alva if deadlines are met.
Once students return home or move somewhere else after college, they need to keep their information updated, Beeler said.
“It is very important that people keep their voting registration up-to-date,” Beeler said.
When voters have name changes or move to different addresses, they should be sure to update their registration information, Beeler said.
The last day to register to vote in the upcoming election is Oct. 14. Early-voting days are Nov. 2 through Nov. 5.
The election board office is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information, contact the office by calling 580-327-1452.
Beeler said she is in the middle of one of the busiest times of the year for her office. She has spent this week getting ballots ready and shipped out.
She has mailed ballots to military service men and women overseas, and she is working on getting absentee ballots mailed to those who have requested them.
Absentee ballots will be sent around Alva and Woods County to towns such as Dacoma, Hopeton, Freedom and Waynoka. The county will have around 70 absentee voters participating in this election, Beeler said.