Julia Williams
Editor-in-Chief  

As Kansas Citians begin to prepare for the Nov. 5 General Election, several local organizations offer education and community involvement opportunities. 

League of Women Voters, Kansas City Public Library and Kansas City Board of Election Commissioners are just a few institutions working to inform and provide voter assistance as the polls prepare to open. 

Oct. 9 is the last day U.S. Citizens can register to vote nationwide. With this, League of Women Voters — an American, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization founded in 1920, which has active leagues in all 50 states including Missouri — has offered various voter-registration dates and locations over the past month including Woods Chapel Church (4725 NE Lakewood Way)  and Cleaver Family YMCA (7000 Troost Ave). League of Women Voters will be available to help Kansas City Missourians with voter registration from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 5 at the Chicano Arts Festival (14th and Liberty St), according to its social media. 

Additionally, this organization will host two candidate forums Oct. 15 and 16. The first, Oct. 15, will be held over Zoom — pertaining to House Districts 19, 22, 23 and 24. The following day will be inclusive of Missouri House and Senate Districts — including Senate Districts 7 and 9 and House Districts 25, 26 and 27. 

However, League of Women Voters is not the only organization working to help voters in the wake of this election season. 

The Kansas City Public Library (KCPL) allows citizens to register to vote or change voter registration at any of its locations — including the Northeast Branch (6000 Wilson Ave) — through Oct. 9.

In addition to voter registration, KCPL provides a multitude of resources to help inform voters including voting while unhoused, ex-offender voting rights, absentee voting for military — including those serving overseas — and disability voter information, among others. 

Branches will also offer various ballot-related information sessions within the coming days. 

• Oct. 2, the Plaza Branch (4801 Main St) will host  “Understanding Reproductive Health and Amendment Three Ballot initiative.
•  Oct. 5, the Northeast Branch (6000 Wilson ave)  will host a Spanish session of “What’s on your ballot.” This will include a presentation from the League of Women Voters including voter questions and the Missouri Ballot process 

• An additional in-person English version of “What’s on Your Ballot” presentation will be held Oct. 9 at the Central Library Branch (14 W. Tenth St). 
• An online version will be held Oct. 18

The Kansas City Board of Election Commissioners (KCEB) is another local organization working to ensure the community is registered to vote. 

Along with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), these organizations offer several additional voter-registration events — including this week from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 2 and Oct. 9 at University Health TMC (2310 Holmes, KCMO 64108). 

KCEB additionally has developed several election-education related programs, including “Adopt a Poll.” 

“Adopt a Poll” — a fundraising program — allows local, nonprofit organizations to provide volunteers to serve as poll-workers and have their proceeds combined to benefit the affiliated organization or charity. The donation amount is exactly the same as a KCEB poll worker pay rate, according to its website. 

For organizations or charities to qualify for Adopt a Poll, it must be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and each volunteer must be 18 years of age. 

For those opting for Absentee voting, its window will be from 12 a.m. Oct. 22 through 12 a.m. Oct. 24. 

Friday, Nov. 1 will be the last day for military and overseas Americans to register to vote. For additional voter-registration, election events or informational sessions, visit: https://www.lwvkc.org/, https://kclibrary.org/civic-engagement/voting or https://www.kceb.org/.