Presidential elections are approaching. It’s vital if you’re a U.S. citizen and aged 18 or older, amid all the crises we’re currently experiencing—the COVID-19 pandemic, environmental emergencies, protests against racism, and an extraordinarily divided electorate. use your game.
Along with all the other upheavals we’ve encountered, the voting process itself has come into contention. While many voters are eager to get their ballots, they do not want to expose themselves to potential infections in the small, crowded voting areas, so voting by mail has become the main alternative. But most of us are not familiar with this process, especially since some states are changing their rules to allow as many people as possible to vote by mail. Add to that the recent political cockfights. US Post Office management and you have a recipe for election propaganda and complete confusion over the legitimacy of postal voting.
So what do you do? Well, you do your research.
To start, When you can vote and How you can vote Depends on what state you live in. Some states already offer to vote by mail and will automatically send ballots to registered voters. Others will allow you to vote by mail during this pandemic, but you must apply for the ballot. And a few still require you to have a confirmed reason for getting an absentee ballot (not including “I don’t want to get potentially terminally ill during a pandemic”).
Therefore, it is important to make sure that you (a) are registered, (b) know where to go if you are voting in person, and (c) know what the rules are if you want to vote by mail. your local area and/or state. And you want to do all this as soon as possible.
but what are you doing immortality What you want to do is get information from your Uncle Al, who heard about it from a random tweet or from a friend. Here are a few more reliable sources.
- The official government site USA.gov has a drop-down menu that will take you to: your state’s Board of Elections site. The Election Board is the best place to go for information on registration and voting.
- According to the website, oy.org “Get rid of the largest 501(c)(3) nonprofit, non-partisan voting registration and voting (GOTV) technology platform in America”. The site allows you to register to vote, check an existing registration, request absentee ballots, and even receive election reminders.
- ” if you writehow to vote” In your Google search box, you receive information specific to the situation Google thinks you are in; there is a drop down menu to change it. While this isn’t an absolute case, as most states use third-party services for registration and information, you’re probably safest if the link you’re clicking on has a “.gov” domain name.
- If you are unsure of any information you receive online or offline — call. Yes, it’s a bit old-fashioned, but if you think your local site isn’t informative or confusing enough, you can call your local Election Board (the phone number will be on your state Election Board site). Of course, with offices all over the country closed due to COVID-19, it can be difficult to reach someone, but be persistent – it’s your toy after all.
A few more words of advice:
- Note that even those who need to know about the process involved can get confused. For example, a staff Boundary They called the local county office of the NYC Election Board, the respondent did not know that NYC now offers an online tool to apply for absentee ballots. When staff tried to call NYC’s main BoE office, the person on the other end of the line was not only aware of the online application, but suggested that she both sign up for the ballot online. and by sending an application via regular mail. In both cases, the person said they would only get one ballot—but at least the ballot would be more likely to arrive. Moral of the story? If you are unsure of the information you received, try again.
- When you receive your ballot, read the instructions. Two times. And double-check them when you’ve completed your ballot papers. Many states have complex rules on how to fill out, sign, and submit an absentee ballot, and a single misplaced signature can mean your vote won’t count.
- Avoid stuffing your ballot on the kitchen table or anywhere else where a smudge on your child’s crayons or a smudge of ketchup might be an excuse to be disqualified.
- You can’t vote often, but you should vote as early as possible and apply for your absentee ballot. I’ve seen warnings on many of the official sites to leave ample time for submissions and votes to be submitted, although some of the excitement about the slowdowns in the United States Postal Service has subsided.
- And finally, you can always vote the old-fashioned way: at your local polling station. check with local Election Board Call them to find out where to go and what precautions they’re taking to protect voters from infection if you wish.
But no matter how you choose to vote, please do so. This year is the most important of all.
