Practicum 3 – William Guevara-Mendoza

In order to vote in Alaska, you can register in 3 different ways, online, on paper or in-person. Registering online is the easiest way because all you need is your drivers license or state ID and a computer. You must fill out the form on https://voterregistration.alaska.gov/.

Registering on paper requires a few more steps but it still isn’t too difficult. You need a computer and access to a printer to print out these papers: https://www.elections.alaska.gov/doc/forms/C03.pdf. You would also need to send print a copy of either your current driver’s license, state ID, passport or birth certificate. Once you have gathered all of these you can send the form via mail, fax or email to a regional elections office. The address of these are on the paper forms.

To register in-person, it is pretty much the same as the the paper registration, except you do it at a physical location. The places you can do it at are the Divisions of Elections Offices or any voter registration agency, such as the DMV, voteing registrars, or participating libraries. The addresses to the Divisions of Elections offices can be found here: https://www.elections.alaska.gov/contact-information/.

I think most of these processes are very simple and easy, as long as you have access to the internet. Online registration seems very simple, and I understand the point of needing a license or ID. And even if you don’t have acces to the internet, most rural towns and villages should have some sort of voter registrar, such as participating tribal government offices.

So, I think that the reason why younger people don’t tend to vote as much as older generations is not due to the registration process, but more due to life experience. The registration process is very easy and most younger people should 100% be able to do it. I just think that older generations have more experience and therefore realize that voting is very important, because they have been hit with the harshness of life. They have realized that they have the power to change things with their vote, and are more willing to vote. Younger people may also be more apathetic because they haven’t lived enough to realize that they should be a part of the voting population. Overtime, as my generation grows, more of us will realize that voting is very important and that it affects nearly every aspect of our lives.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.