This Guide Will Walk You Through Every Step of Voting in 2020.
This is National Voter Registration Day and there is only one way to celebrate. I bet you can guess what it is – and no, it’s not with hard booze, although thinking about November 3, 2020 also fills me with anxiety. Friends, the only way to celebrate this hashtag holiday is by registering to vote. Or by double-checking that you are registered to vote. Or reminding everyone you know to register to vote. Or by signing up, planning how you are going to vote. Okay, I think these are four ways to celebrate, but we can help you do them all.
How to register to vote or check your status
If you have not already done so, registering to vote is your first important step. Fortunately, this is pretty easy to do, whether you need to register for the first time or simply confirm that your existing registration is still valid. There are several ways to register for online voting ; The easiest way is to go to vote.gov and select your state of residence from the drop-down menus to get started. You can also sign up using the tools offered by several social media platforms, which also makes it easy to post your registration status on your profile to encourage others to sign up as well. During registration, you may be given the option to register to vote by mail if the service is available for free in your state, and in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, it is now available in most of them. (If you live in Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, or Utah, voting is 100% by mail .) Speaking of the pandemic, if you are currently outside your state, you should check the absentee voting rules of the latter. to make sure you can cast your vote without returning to your polling station.
If you are sure you have already registered to vote but want to avoid surprises on election day, double- check if you are registered to vote . A quick way is to use vote.gov and navigate to the appropriate resources for your state to help you check your status, although we have compiled some of those resources here as well .
How to make sure your vote counts
It has been weeks – and more than a few national crises – since we all talked about politicizing the US Postal Service ahead of an election likely to involve an unprecedented number of people voting by mail. Sorry if you forgot that this is one of the many things that you must be stressed out about. However, if you want to vote by mail, you need to do everything possible so that your vote was counted, whether it be sending a newsletter by e-mail without using USPS or take additional steps to ensure that you have sent it in the mail. the ballot was not rejected .
If you want to vote in person but don’t want the crowds on November 3, check to see if your state offers early voting – in some states you can vote 45 days before an election, a threshold we’ve already crossed. … If you plan to vote in person on Election Day, first search for your local polling station at vote.gov, and then browse our list of recommendations for safe in person voting during a pandemic.
Get up and volunteer if you can
It probably goes without saying that these are some of the most meaningful choices in our lives, but if you need a reminder of why voting is so important – whether it’s to boost morale or help inspire others and gain the right to vote – Amazon is the best choice. … make the documentary All In: The Fight for Democracy free to stream today . Focused on Stacey Abrams’ 2018 campaign against Brian Kemp for governor of Georgia, the film delves deeper into the ugly story of US voter crackdown. democracy survives to see another one) you can subscribe to polls . If you want to instill a sense of civic duty in your children, you can even encourage your teen to do the same – and for a fee.
If you still have questions, check out our list of everything you need to know to vote in 2020 . See you at the elections! (That is, you wo n’t see me there, because I vote by mail.)