TULSA, Okla. — Oklahoma’s voter registration deadline is on October 11th.
National Voter Registration Day is Sept 17th and there's a push to get more Americans registered before November elections.
2 News' Douglas Braff talked to Tulsans about their voting plans.
The 2020 presidential election had the highest voter turnout in this century, with 66.8% of citizens 18 years and older casting ballots, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Here in Oklahoma the number dropped more with a turnout rate at 54.8%.
Taking a closer look at those numbers, about 120,000 more Oklahomans are already registered to vote right now (2,381,255) versus the start of November 2020 (2,259,113), according to the Oklahoma State Board of Elections.
So, while the state is on track to beat 2020 voter registration rates, those rates don’t correlate with the number of people voting.
Most people 2 News spoke with on the streets of Tulsa are registered to vote or to register.
“Every vote counts, so just get out there and do your due diligence,” said Ty, 25.
“I would like to be the change I wish to see in the world,” said a woman named Laura, 21. “Every vote counts. Some people don’t think that. Some people think that it’s not particularly helpful to vote. And I’m an optimist—I like to think, well, every little bit helps, right?”
"If you don't choose who governs, then you're kind of just letting things run its course,” her 19-year-old brother Robert, who plans to register, chimed in.
“Given the fact that our country’s founded on the idea that you get to choose who leads,” he added, “you should always be more open to kind of moving back in that process, keeping that going and keeping the idea alive that you pick the course of America, not the government.”
Bianca, 20, told 2 News she is voting "because I think it matters, I think all of our votes matter. Especially with the last election and this upcoming one, I think it's just been a lot going on with everything."
Some people said they don’t plan to vote in this upcoming election, saying thing are too extreme and there’s not a middle-ground option on the ballot.
Some also brought up Oklahoma being a deep-red state and their vote not impacting which presidential candidate will receive the state’s seven Electoral College votes.
While those people declined to speak on camera, David,48, told us he never voted and has zero plans to.
"I don't really believe that the government supports the people like they say they do,” he said. “There's too much corruption, and I don't feel I should support it."
“Like all the way back when I was younger, [then-Vice President George H.W.] Bush said, ‘Read my lips, no new taxes,’ and—what do you do you—he added taxes in his first term,” David mentioned.
“So, I just don’t feel that the government really looks out for what the people really want,” he continued. “They do what their— they go with what politicians want and what big money and big corporations and such [want]. That’s really what the agenda is, it’s what’s best for them and only provide for us what keeps us content enough to keep the machine going.”
However, he mentioned he feels “local government is a lot less corrupt, so you get more done,” citing what he thinks are positive changes to Tulsa’s downtown over the years.
People like Robert and Laura, on the other hand, emphasized voting can cause change.
"I think that keeping an open mind is the most important part,” Robert argued, “because if you keep yourself closed off, like, 'Ah, it doesn't matter, nothing's gonna change or anything,' then you're not really actively participating and trying to make a change that you really want in the community."
“Also, if you don’t vote,” Laura added, “complaining after the result ... doesn’t feel right. I mean, you kind of let it happen if you don’t vote.”
2 News asked David what needed to change for him to vote, he said "for politicians to start actually caring about the people and doing stuff for the people and not doing it for personal benefit or personal gain.”
An example of that, he added, would be for politicians not to accept any salary while in office.
How to Register to Vote
People can register online at the Oklahoma Voter Portal; they can also print out forms onlineand mail those to their county's election board office or go there in person to fill out the paperwork.
The deadline to register online and in person is Friday, Oct. 11. Those registering by mail need to have it postmarked by that same day.
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