Bay Area joins National Voter Registration drive

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (KGO) -- Are you registered to vote? That's the question many people were being asked Tuesday at malls and libraries across the country. It was part of a nationwide campaign called National Voter Registration Day.

Two staff members from the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters office were busy engaging shoppers Tuesday at Westfield Valley Fair to find out if they're registered to vote.

The challenge is getting people to stop and listen and to learn they're not trying to sell anything. Perhaps one in 25 do stop to fill out the forms. At noontime Tuesday, two people did so. They're newcomers to the area after moving yesterday from Florida.

This is part of National Voter Registration Day, a campaign across the country that last year signed up 750,000 new voters. In some cases,the tables are staffed by volunteers from community organizations such as the League of Women Voters. In another case, they are members of the Iranian American Council, which is setting up a table this evening at Yeganeh Bakery & Cafe on Stevens Creek Blvd. in San Jose. Besides malls, other sites include libraries and recreation centers.

"We want to make sure that every citizen who wants the opportunity to vote registers and keeps their registration up to date." Santa Clara County has 859,515 registered voters as of Tuesday.

The registration tables Tuesday also took care of address changes, change in party affiliation and name changes.

Citizens throughout California can click here to register online.

Click here for a list of locations and hours for Tuesday's registration drive.

Click here to follow David Louie on Twitter for updates throughout the day.