National Voter Registration Day plays a key role in the presidential election year

Soon, mail-in ballot boxes will be available in cities across the country. But before you can vote, you must register to vote—something the White House campaign is pursuing.

In many states across the country, early voter registration is not a big problem because people can simply register on Election Day. But that is not the case everywhere, even in many swing states.

In Georgia and Arizona, the deadline for voter registration is October 7. In North Carolina, the deadline is October 11 if you don’t vote early. And in Pennsylvania, the deadline is October 21.

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Voter registration is in focus this week because Tuesday is National Voter Registration Day. Tom Bonier is with TargetSmart, a group that tracks voter registration data, and he says the unofficial holiday is even more important in presidential election years.

“This is generally one of the largest increases in registration that we see in an election cycle,” Bonier told Scripps News.

Data compiled by his group shows how interest in voter registration increased after the Harris-Trump debate and after Taylor Swift’s endorsement, which encouraged people to vote for Harris. Former Ohio congressman and former presidential candidate Tim Ryan spoke about the impact of Swift’s endorsement in Trump-aligned Youngstown, Ohio.

“About six people walked into the Mahoning County Democratic Party headquarters – separately – and said, ‘Taylor Swift sent me here to register to vote,'” Ryan said.

Both the Harris and Trump campaigns track who is registering to vote and whether Americans identify as Democrats or Republicans. For most of this year, TargetSmart data shows Republicans holding an advantage over Democrats in the number of registered voters.

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However, since Harris entered the race, the dates have shifted.

“The Democrats have been trying to catch up,” Bonier said. “And the question is, is there enough time to close that gap?”

He added that Generation Z is registering as unaffiliated voters in greater numbers than previous generations. But Bonier said he’s also seeing a large divide between young women and young men.

“Generation Z women are actually becoming more democratic and progressive in terms of their voting behavior and identity,” he said. “While young white men are actually going in the opposite direction. So there’s a bigger gender gap and more partisanship.”