The 2026 midterm elections take place on Tuesday, Nov. 3, but voters need to prepare beforehand to confirm that they're registered and well-informed on election day.
Daniel Mallinson, associate professor of public policy and administration at Penn State Harrisburg, explained in the following Q&A why voting is important to a healthy democracy and shared where American citizens can find information about registering to vote.
Q: What is National Voter Registration Day?
Mallison: National Voter Registration Day is on Sept. 15. It's a national nonpartisan day of action where organizations encourage individuals to register to vote in the coming elections. National Voter Registration Day happens in September, which may seem early given that we don't vote until November. But many states have different rules for their registration and mail ballot deadlines, which can sometimes be pretty early. To register to vote in Pennsylvania, you can go to pa.gov or vote.pa, and you can actually register online. It's very easy and takes about six minutes to register. You can also register in-person at a county office.
Civic Engagement Week runs the whole week of Sept. 14, and it draws attention to all of the other activities beyond voting that are important for engaging in a democracy. These other activities can be contacting public officials when you have concerns, getting involved in elections, being involved in your community through community service, and more. There's a lot of different things that are involved in maintaining a democracy. It's important to recognize these events because they're fundamental activities that citizens need to engage in for us to have a democracy, and this focused week allows us nationally to draw attention to them, to the citizens. It's important to be involved because we don't have a democracy if citizens aren't involved, and that's most fundamentally in voting.
Q: What can individuals do to help keep American democracy healthy?
Mallinson: Democracy is a year-round activity. Being involved, understanding what's happening in government and giving feedback to government is really important. Voting is the most fundamental activity of a citizen, but a lot of times individuals will feel like they don't have a voice and are not being heard. One of the best ways to engage politically is to join with others, to find others who have a like-minded view. There are lots of different organizations out there that bring people of a like mind together around a topic, and they will communicate those values and those positions to government together so the government will listen.
Also, there are a lot of good nonpartisan sources of information available to everyone. Local news outlets - whether it's Spotlight PA, or the Philadelphia Inquirer, or Trib Live in Western Pennsylvania, or Penn Live in Central Pennsylvania, or your local newspaper - are great resources for learning about politics and about candidates.
We know that, especially in midterm elections like the one this fall, many people don't vote. But the only way that your voice is going to be heard is if you express it, and the most fundamental way is through voting. So, my encouragement would be to register and to vote.
