National Organization of Women helps west river residents in drive-thru voter registration

RAPID CITY, S.D. — Amid the pandemic and rising tensions around the country, people have been preparing for the presidential election.

To get folks ready, a chapter of the National Organization of Women, or NOW, helped West River residents with voter registration. NOW held two voter registration events at Black Hills State University’s Spearfish and Rapid City campuses over the weekend.

With safety in mind, it was a drive-thru event and new registrants were encouraged to stay inside their cars while completing the process. The group created voter packets which contained in-person or absentee registration forms, as well as stamped envelopes with auditor addresses for Lawrence, Pennington and Meade counties.

“If you don’t participate, then it just doesn’t function as well,” said West River NOW president, Callan Baxter. “So it’s super important at any time, but especially in times when we have stuff that’s really hard going on. We’ve got crises with COVID and people being separated, and it’s just a moment where we need to come together and work with the system that we have”.

Along with voter registration forms, the group handed out information regarding dates and voting specifics to South Dakota.