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Registering to vote in Lehigh Acres

By Staff | Jun 28, 2012

Mohamed Yasin

Not registered to vote?

No problem if you live in Lehigh because you can stop by a few places and within a few minutes you can become a voter in the upcoming elections. That’s the word today from Mohamed Yasin, a member of FEVRR, otherwise known as Foundational Education for Voters’ Rights and Responsibilities.

He and a few others have been volunteering their time to help local residents to sign up and register to vote.

“Our goal is to get everybody or as many as possible who live in Lehigh to sign up,” Yasin said. For the past few weeks, Yasin has been in front of the offices of the Greater Lehigh Acres Chamber of Commerce on Saturdays signing people up and sending that information to Fort Myers to Sharon Harrington, the supervisor of elections.

Yasin noted that over the past several months, FEVRR has helped to sign up 1,670 Lehigh residents so they can vote at the polls.

Just in the last few weeks, Yasin said FEVRR has signed up 87 people.

Yasin said Doug Patterson, another member of FEVRR, will be in front of Winn-Dixie on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to noon to sign up new voters. FEVRR is making plans to have members at other sites in Lehigh, Yasin said.

He said FEVRR answers any and all the questions residents have. They do not become political by suggesting party affiliation.

Yasin said it takes two minutes to sign up and that other sites are being selected because not everyone knows where the chamber offices are.

“We’re seeing a lot of young people signing up. That is a good sign that Lehigh’s future is interested in who represents them,” Yasin said.

You must be a U.S. citizen and have proof of citizenship, such as a driver’s license, birth certificate or a passport and you have to be 17 or older, Yasin said.

Because of redistricting, Yasin said a lot of people don’t know that Lehigh is now in the 17th Congressional District where before, they were in the district with Rep. Connie Mack representing them.

He said FEVRR has illustrations to show potential voters the new district lines for Lehigh Acres.

Once you have been registered, the Supervisor of Elections will mail new voters a card informing them where they can vote.