Voter Registration Day is Tuesday; are you registered and do you know rules to vote?

Prepare to vote

National Voter Registration Day is Sept. 20.

Citizens must be registered to vote to take part in the Nov. 8 General Election, and must be certain their information is correct, especially if an address or name change has occurred. Be sure to have a photo ID when registering.

The last day to register to vote in person is Oct. 7; online or by fax, Oct. 9; by mail, postmarked Oct. 10 or earlier.

Early voting at your County Voter Registration and Elections Office begins Oct. 24.

To vote by mail, know how to get and return a ballot.

To vote in person on Election Day, know where your precinct is.

South Carolina has more than 3 million registered voters, but only 17% voted in the 2022 primaries. One reason people do not vote is they feel uninformed about the candidates and issues. VOTE411.ORG allows voters to enter their address and see who thier candidates are and what referenda will be on their ballot.

Invite family and friends to register. Participate in democracy by voting in the General Election on Nov. 8. Every vote matters.

Elizabeth Sumner Jones, Columbia, SC League of Women Voters

Allow voters to speak

Why don’t our legislators allow the citizens of this state to vote on abortion?

Based on discussions with friends and acquaintances, and letters to the editor, I know there are many divergent opinions concerning this topic.

One legislator for many people cannot possibly represent each point of view.

Why not craft a question for all voters to respond to in the general election instead of this knee-jerk reaction to the Supreme Court’s ruling regarding Roe?

Elizabeth Russell, Columbia

Report on our roads

I would like to discuss the condition of the roads in our city.

When I ride down the roads of my city, my family and I run into a lot of potholes.

The interstate seems to have a bunch of cracks and potholes, too.

I understand that road maintenance is very expensive; however, my parents tell me that they pay a lot in taxes to maintain these roads.

Driving on roads that aren’t well maintained can increase the risk of damage to my family’s car, and that can cause expensive repairs.

To conclude, I would love for the newspaper to write about the roads’ bad condition to convince politicians to address road maintenance in our state.

.Jack Wilson, Columbia

Blood needed for disease

September is Sickle Cell Month, a time that I am using to rally support to help those with a disease that has impacted my entire life.

Sickle cell disease is the most common genetic blood disorder in the U.S., impacting primarily Black and African American individuals. There is no cure, but frequent blood transfusions help prevent or reduce the painful symptoms.

I was diagnosed with sickle cell disease at a very young age.

In recent years, the Red Cross did not have enough blood donations from donors who are Black to provide blood to meet the needs of sickle cell patients. COVID-19 further exacerbated the challenges in collecting enough diverse blood donations. It has caused the number of Black individuals who give blood to drop by about half.

I ask that you help in any way you possibly can. Please consider giving blood this September. Make an appointment at www.redcrossblood.org.

Timothy Griffin, Columbia

This story was originally published September 18, 2022 at 6:00 AM.