Council member Zo Qadri issued a proclamation on Tuesday to increase voter registration rates in celebration of National Voter Registration Day.

Qadri made the announcement at a city hall event on behalf of Mayor Kirk Watson and the Austin City Council. Qadri said systemic barriers in Texas, including voter ID laws, a 30-day registration deadline, no option for online registration and restrictive access to voting by mail can all make registering to vote difficult, especially for voters from marginalized communities. To address these issues, Qadri said he will propose new policies to boost registration during upcoming City Council meetings. 

“It’s important that we all work together to overcome these hurdles because voter registration rates are disproportionately lower among low-income communities of color, young voters and naturalized citizens,” Qadri said in the proclamation. 

His initiatives include granting city employees time off to become deputy voter registrars, partnering with counties to host registration drives at city facilities and sending reminders to update voter registrations when residents change their addresses with city utilities like Austin Energy.  

MOVE Texas, a nonprofit focused on empowering young voters, co-hosted the event after approaching Qadri to increase voter registration initiatives at the city level. Amber Mills, senior democracy reform organizer for MOVE Texas, said the proclamation demonstrates the city’s dedication to ensuring residents have the opportunity to participate in democracy, despite “deliberate barriers to silence the voice of a young and diverse electorate.”

“Today, all across the city and state, passionate young organizers are stepping up to host creative voter registration drives, bringing a fresh wave of civic engagement to their communities,” Mills said. “These young Texans are turning voter registration into a movement, one that’s built with them in mind and impossible to ignore.” 

Design senior Savannah Hollan, a social media director in UT’s chapter of MOVE Texas, said National Voter Registration Day is the most important opportunity for voter outreach and encouraged students to register, especially after Gov. Greg Abbott removed about a million people from Texas voter rolls in three years. 

“It’s important for young people (to register to vote) because they really (determine) who we are and what our voices are,” Hollan said. “Young people have the power, and they have the ability to mobilize.”