After 51 years of not voting, on Tuesday, Mark Berwanger registered to vote.
"I’m doing what I should have done all along," he said.
Berwanger says he was compelled to vote this year because of his personal views on where the country is going.
"There are too many people who would vote for the wrong person for the wrong reasons," he said.
Berwanger was one of two newly registered voters I spoke with at Tuesday's National Voter Registration event at the Santa Barbara Public Library.
League of Women Voters Service Director Revae Moran says 85% of eligible Santa Barbara residents are already registered to vote.
"Because we don't have to spend a lot of time registering voters, we put our efforts into educating voters and making sure we have the most well-informed voters in the country," Moran said.
The League of Women Voters will begin hosting candidate forums for local elections starting September 30.
Other attendees at Tuesday's voter registration event shared their opinions on the upcoming elections.
"Whichever way you lean, one way or the other, the important thing is that you get out there and vote," said Hussein Elmeligi.
Scott Herron also registered to vote Tuesday after being out of the country for years. Now that he’s back in the U.S., he says voting is something every citizen should do.
"A lot of people say, well, my vote's not going to count, but if 2 million people felt the same way, that could sway things, couldn't it?" Herron said.
Election Day is Tuesday, November 5. You can register up until October 21. For information on voter registration, candidate forums and more, visit the links below.
