NIU students need to take care of their voting status soon, a DeKalb County official said Friday.

Chief Deputy Clerk Sharon Holmes said the number of students registered is low because there is not a presidential race this year.

Holmes said her office is working with NIU’s Student Association to help get NIU students registered. Her office had received beween 75 and 100 new student applications from the SA Friday, she said.

Many problems for students arise from the fact that they fail to notify the County Clerk’s office about a change in address, Holmes said. Students who wish to vote at their DeKalb address should change the addresses on the back of their voter registration cards and mail them to the Clerk’s office, she said.

The last day to register and change one’s voting address is Oct. 9.

The exact number of students registered is unknown now because so many students who left NIU haven’t changed their addresses, Holmes said. She also expects many students to register before the October deadline.

“There were a thousand people who registered on the last day,” two years ago, she said. She did not know whether her office would be open late the last day of registration as it was two years ago, she said.

Everyone who registers by the deadline should get a new voting card mailed to them by the Nov. 6 election, Holmes said.

There are two DeKalb County Board races that pit pairs of NIU studends against each other. College Republicans

President Jodie English is running against former SA President Pro Tem and Democrat Thomas Gary in the sixth district, and former Young Democrats President Tom Elkins (D) is running against Tim Bagby (R) in the seventh district.