MADISON (WKOW)-- We're six weeks from the general election, and September 25 is also National Voter Registration Day.
State election officials and volunteers are making sure everyone is prepared for November 6.
In 2008, six million Americans didn't vote because they missed a registration deadline or didn't know how to register. The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board (G.A.B.) is hoping some new tools will get more people out to the polls. They're already expecting as many as 3 million voters.
The G.A.B. has created a new website, designed to give users customized voting information all in one place. Voters can find their polling location, see a sample ballot, and start the registration process.
"We want the voter to be prepared so they can participate in this process and we want to direct them to this tool as the most reliable tool," says G.A.B. Executive Director Kevin Kennedy.
With the election fast approaching, volunteers are out near the UW-Madison campus making sure the student population is ready to vote.
"Students move a lot more than other people do and not everyone realizes that just because they've registered once they think they might be registered, and they don't realize that they've got to register when they move again," says Heather Gregoire with Head Count, a national non-partisan organization that hosts voter registration drives.
Even some poll workers are out signing voters up because they know from experience that registering on election day can be a challenge.
"I work at a very busy polling place so on the last busy election I think we had almost 1,000 new registrants, so there was a line going out the door," says Genie Ogden, a poll worker and registration volunteer.
Kennedy says Wisconsin had record turnout in 2004 with about 3 million voters, and in 2008, 2.98 million showed up at the polls. They're expecting at least that many again this November.
