{"id":19034,"date":"2026-04-09T22:05:22","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T22:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/?p=19034"},"modified":"2026-04-09T22:14:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T22:14:49","slug":"are-you-registered-to-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/09\/are-you-registered-to-vote\/","title":{"rendered":"Are You Registered to Vote?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The Truth Staff<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you registered to vote?\u201d asked state Senator Paula Hicks-Hudson as she summed up the voter engagement an education event she organized on Tuesday evening, April 1, at the Kent Branch Library.<\/p>\n

Hicks-Hudson, however, was not just asking the overflow audience members that question, she was echoing the night\u2019s theme of suggesting to those present how they should be addressing their family members and friends in order to help overcome the rather dismal voter turnout figures in Lucas County as the midterm primary elections approach.<\/p>\n

Lucas County, one of the speakers recalled, had the second lowest voter turnout, among the 88 Ohio counties, in last year\u2019s off-year election.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour vote is your voice and your voice is so very important,\u201d said Hicks-Hudson as she opened the night\u2019s event.<\/p>\n

Last week\u2019s voter engagement event was moderated by Christopher Scott, founder of Reach to Teach National and former executive director of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus, who set the tone for the evening\u2019s discussion by noting that there are a lot of obstacles in Lucas County to improving the turnout of eligible voters to the polls \u2013 not just among young voters but among those of all ages.<\/p>\n

The principal speaker was LaVera Scott, director of the Lucas County Board of Elections. \u201cWe are much stronger together than we are apart,\u201d said Scott as she spoke about the issues voters should be aware of as the May 5 primary election day approaches.<\/p>\n

\"\"LaVera Scott\u2019s message involved a recount of what has not changed for voters as the election approaches \u2013 such as ID requirements \u2013 and what voters must be aware of , particularly if there have been any changes to their status \u2013 address or name change for example.<\/p>\n

LaVera Scott also addressed some of the issues that are so important for honest and fair elections in which any voter who wishes to exercise her right to vote can do so without any impediments. Access to the polls is crucial, said Scott, as well as transparency in the process and a fair and accurate counting of the votes.<\/p>\n

April 6 is the deadline for registration for the May 5 election day, or to make such changes, at the Board of Elections, she noted.<\/p>\n

What voters should be aware of, if they plan to mail in their ballots, is the change in the mail system over the past few years. There is no longer a processing center in Toledo, so mail for Lucas County destinations, actually has to go to Michigan and back. It is taking longer than it did several years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t trust the mail,\u201d said Hicks-Hudson, bluntly. \u201cDon\u2019t be mailing in ballots. Vote early or wait until Election Day [and go to your polling place] with the proper ID.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
LaVera Scott<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LaVera Scott stressed the importance of voters checking the Lucas County Board of Elections website. The site provides not only up to date information on voting issues and requirements but also the status on each registered voter, so issues and discrepancies can be checked ahead of time.<\/p>\n

Also speaking at the event were Tina Butts, of The Movement, and Anita Madison, of Ohio Unity Coalition.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to shake up this neighborhood,\u201d said Butts. \u201cWe have to take back our power. Shame on us if we don\u2019t get out here and get people to vote.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy question is, who are you going to engage and develop a relationship with because this whole voting thing is relational, y\u2019all,\u201d said Madison, as she acknowledged that those present were already committed voters.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to call them out,\u201d said Hicks-Hudson, as she concluded the event, and referring to friends, neighbors of those present. \u201cBesides asking \u2018how are you doing?\u2019 you should ask \u2018are you registered to vote?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

To find out if you are registered to vote and where you should vote, go to the Lucas County board of Elections website and click \u201cAm I Registered to Vote.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Truth Staff \u201cAre you registered to vote?\u201d asked state Senator Paula Hicks-Hudson as she summed up the voter engagement an education event she organized on Tuesday evening, April 1, at the Kent Branch Library. Hicks-Hudson, however, was not just asking the overflow audience members that question, she was echoing the night\u2019s theme of suggesting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19036,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[250,252,17],"tags":[],"wf_post_folders":[342],"class_list":["post-19034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-politics","category-local"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19034"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19034\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19039,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19034\/revisions\/19039"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19034"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=19034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}