Off-year (non-presidential) elections have a history of low voter participation, though the state of Oregon is doing everything it can to change that. Registration has never been easier than it is today. There’s still time to sign up to vote in the November election.

Secretary of State Kate Brown has pushed to increase voter registration numbers since she took office. Last year she unsuccessfully championed a measure that would have required the Department of Motor Vehicles to turn address changes over to her office so voter registrations could be updated automatically.

She did not stop there. Last month her office mailed nearly 900,000 postcards to unregistered eligible Oregonians, reminding them they could still sign up to vote. Voter rolls grew by 1.2 percent statewide in September.

Most new voters were not affiliated with a political party, a trend that has picked up steam at least since 2008. In September of that year about 422,000 registered Oregonians were non-affiliated; this year in the same month that number had grown to about 518,500. Both Democrats and Republicans lost voters, meanwhile.

This year voters may register in person at the county clerk’s office, by mail or online. Mailed registration cards must be postmarked before 11:59 p.m. Oct. 14. Online registration also must be done by 11:59 p.m. that same day. Signatures for online registrations generally are taken from driver license information on file with the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

Just over 70 percent of registered voters bothered to cast ballots in the 2010 off-year election, according to the secretary of state’s office. That’s nothing like the nearly 86 percent who turned out two years earlier, when Barack Obama was elected president.

Yet these off-year elections are, arguably, just as important as the others. Bend residents, for example, could change the political complexion of the city council; voters in Madras could do so, as well. All of us will vote for state lawmakers, U.S. Senate and governor.

The deadline to register is just a few days away. If you wish to help shape the future of your city, county, state and country by voting, now’s the time to get busy.