COVID voting: high school students unable to register, attention placed on future polls

Lilli Greco, Reporter

 

     With COVID-19 on the loose, there have been a few questions about the upcoming elections. How will they work if voters can’t show up to the polls? This is true especially at this time of year when students who are of age would be registering to vote. 

     Theresa Freligh, the president of the Harford County League of Women Voters, has some answers.  “We take pride in the fact that we register over 100 students across the nine highschools every year,” Freligh said. “And if COVID-19 keeps up, we might not be able to accomplish that goal.”

     “We had planned on finishing up the nine high schools and having a Voter Registration day at HCC on September 20th, which may or may not still be happening,” Freligh said. “We had also planned on a registration tea, where we would talk about women’s rights dressed as suffragettes.” 

     “The League isn’t just for women though,” Freligh says. “We kept the name because it started with the women’s movement over 100 years ago.” The League uses their influence to try and make voting available to everyone, and get the word out about politics. It’s a non-partisan organization that mainly focuses on educating voters so they can make strong decisions at the polls. “It’s important that people take it seriously,” Freligh says. “This is the future of the country we’re voting on.” 

     “As of now, there are no plans with what to do with the schools we didn’t get to, to register students to vote.” Freligh says. “But we do have the option to register online, with the Board or Elections.” You can register at elections.maryland.gov. The League has also been pushing for mail in ballots for the primary as well, and Governor Hogan has already agreed to the motion. “We’ve been having our meetings on Zoom as well.” Freligh said. “Just to keep up with everything.”

     The League has also been working to make information about the elections accessible with their website, vote411.org. “We try to be as unbiased as possible,” Freligh said. “We publish whatever is available on any candidates. We don’t support individual candidates, we only support causes.”