Elmont High senior Amira Elrington-Edwards looks to mobilize voters

Amira Elrington-Edwards, a senior at Elmont Memorial High School, feels that it is important for her neighbors to participate in civic engagement.

She will host a voter registration drive at the high school’s Homecoming game on Saturday, from 3 to 7 p.m., with the hope that filled bleachers will translate to large turnout at the polls in November.

Elected officials effect change on many levels — village, town, county, state and federal. Elrington-Edwards hopes to persuade fellow community members to register to vote not only for president, but also for their state and congressional representatives.

“Things get done in Congress, our state legislatures and local elections that have the most impact in our state,” she said. “I feel like it’s just really important for people to understand the vitality of voting in local and state elections, because they have the most impact on us. Getting people in office that align with your values and needs in the local and state legislature is very important.”

At her booth, Elrington-Edwards will have QR codes that neighbors can scan to sign up to vote. The process takes roughly two minutes to complete, she said, adding, “We just want to make it as quick and easy as possible.”

Elrington-Edwards’s booth is one of four New York student initiatives that look to mobilize voters this year being hosted with Girls Write Now, a nonprofit that mentors young writers and leaders. In New York City, Ashanti Benons, 22, hosted a voter registration drive at Brooklyn College on Sept. 17; Chloe Lee, 17, is running a social media campaign through the Oct. 26 registration deadline; and Zuzanna Wasiluk, 20, is gathering data on local voting habits to create a virtual essay and data visualization.

The “Storytelling for Change” initiative these students are a part of is made possible by a partnership involving National Voter Registration Day, Girls Write Now and cosponsor STARS Citywide Girls Initiative, a coalition of 10 nonprofits that advocate for youth from underserved communities.

“We know that if you can write, you can create, collaborate, discover, teach, advocate and build a better world,” Girls Write Now Founder and Executive Director Maya Nussbaum said in a news release. “As a community, when we write together, we shape culture and shift industries. As storytellers, mobilizers and voters, we will in this election and many more to come, create change.”

Girls Write Now provides services to roughly 2,000 participants in 32 states each year. The STARS coalition has served more than 500,000 in New York City.

Since 2012, National Voter Registration Day and its partners across the country have helped register more than 5 million voters. It is an annual nonpartisan event held every September. More than 4,000 national and community partners take part, to raise awareness of voter registration resources and opportunities.

To learn more about National Voter Registration Day, visit NationalVoterRegistrationDay.org. The site lists voter registration events across the country, and includes comprehensive and state-specific resources on voter registration and voting in general.

Neighbors can visit the following sites from Oct. 26 to Nov. 3 to vote early:

• Elmont Public Library, 700 Hempstead Turnpike, Elmont
• Floral Park Recreational Center, 124 Stewart St., Floral Park
• Michael J. Tully Park, 1801 Evergreen Ave., New Hyde Park
• Valley Stream Presbyterian Church, 130 S. Central Ave., Valley Stream
• West Hempstead Public Library, 500 Hempstead Ave., West Hempstead

Go to Bit.ly/NassauVoteEarly, NassauVotes.com or call (516) 571-8683 to learn more about voting in Nassau County.