That’s right, if you don’t register to vote by October 6, then you will not have a vote in this year’s election.

Today, I attended a volunteer training session at Obama HQ* in Detroit (near the Fisher Building ^[1]) to help canvass for voter registration.

I was shocked to hear from our Field Organizer that there are almost 180,000 eligible but unregistered voters in Detroit. That’s a lot of people!

But registering to vote is extremely easy. Here are a few ways:

1. Print out this form ^[2], and send it in to the Secretary of State. All the information you need is there, but please be sure to fill out the form completely or else your registration may be thrown out.

2. Contact your local Obama headquarters (see a list here ^[3]) and ask for a voter registration form to be sent to you. They will be sure to get you a voter registration form and may deliver one personally.

3. Register to vote with one of the many volunteers out there with clipboards full of blank registration forms. You’ll find us (for I am one of them) at local festivals or knocking door to door, outside of grocery stores and churches and banks. Be nice to us. We’re just trying to do our part for America.

And if you’re already registered to vote, take 10 minutes of your time to email your friends or call your family to ask if they’re registered to vote. You may be surprised to learn that they aren’t registered.

Here are a few other facts about voter registration:

• If you’ve moved to a new address within 60 days of the election (ie, if you moved after Sept 7), you can vote using your former residence as your official voting address. However, please keep in mind that you must vote at the polling place where you are registered. For example, if you move from Ferndale to Detroit after Sept 7, you can keep your voter registration in Ferndale, but you must go back to Ferndale on election day to vote. This is particularly important if you move after October 6, because you can still change your voter registration to your new residence between Sept 7 and Oct 6.
• If your house is on a foreclosure list, you can still claim that address to vote. You may have heard of this Republican effort to keep people away from the polls ^[4]. Please don’t let anyone intimidate you. Know your rights and vote your interests. (And to any of you people out there who don’t think this election matters, this attempt to suppress voting just goes to show how serious this election is).
• A homeless person can claim a local church or shelter as their permanent address, enabling them to vote in the election.

The election is less than 2 months away. It’s time to start working. Volunteer some of your time, or at least do your part to talk to you friends, family, and neighbors to make sure they’re registered to vote.

If you have any voter registration stories or ideas, feel free to comment below.

^{*I personally support Barack Obama for President. These opinions are my own and not necessarily the opinions of my fellow writers or Metroblogging.}