Residents on Bloomington's west side will be among the first to benefit from a traveling voter-registration drive on Connect Transit's new Community Bus.
This inaugural voter-registration drive is set for Monday, Dec. 18. It runs from 1-3 p.m. in the Walmart parking lot, 2225 W. Market St., Bloomington. The Community Bus will then drive to Western Avenue Community Center, 600 N. Western Ave., to register more voters from 4-6 p.m.
The drive is a joint project between the McLean County clerk's office, the Bloomington Election Commission, Marcfirst, LIFE CIL, and the League of Women Voters of McLean County. Staffed by volunteers, it's aimed at those who may have transportation or Internet access issues who wish to get registered to vote.
League of Women Voters board member Katie Pratt said the drive can be helpful to anyone who wants to register or simply has questions.
"Regardless of where they live, anyone in McLean County can benefit from stopping by the Community Bus to have basic registration and engagement questions answered by the volunteers,” said Pratt.
Pratt said she believes educating people on the voting process could help boost the public's involvement in local elections.
Volunteers will ride the Community Bus to assist with the registration process. Any Illinois resident may register to vote or change their address if needed to obtain an updated voter-registration card.
Bloomington Election Commission Executive Director Paul Shannon said organizers of the Community Bus voter-registration drive are looking at other areas for future visits.
“The primary’s not until March 20 and registration closes sometime in February. I would guess we’re going to have one or two more sometime in January, possibly at the colleges,” said Shannon.
And if you miss the Community Bus, there are many other ways to register to vote, said Shannon.
"They can go to the library and register. At the DMV if they go change their license they can register there. They can register online as long as they have a state ID. There’s many, many ways people can register now,” said Shannon.
Connect Transit will also offer free rides on Election Day in 2018.
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