It is less than two weeks until the midterm elections in the United States. Election day is November 8th. My mailbox, email, TV, and Youtube ads are inundated with election information. What should one do to make sure you are ready for the election?
Make sure you are registered. Each state has a website where you can check your voter registration status. It is essential to do so because many states purge their registered voter roll every few cycles of non-active voters. This purge removes people who are dead or have moved out of state. Suppose you haven’t voted in a few cycles. In that case, go to your secretary of state’s (or whatever agency is in charge of voting) website and enter the information they need to verify it is you and check your registration status.
Assuming you are a registered voter, ensure you have any supporting documents you may need to vote. In some states, you need an ID or some sort of document proving you are who you say you are.
I would consider voting early if you can. Depending on your voting, district lines can be long, and voting early can ensure that you are in and out of the voting booth in less than ten minutes. I worked as a poll worker for the 2020 election in a smallish town in Maryland, and at specific times of the day, the lines were out the door.
Many measures on your ballot will be constitutional changes and local and statewide elections. Please google and find out what your ballot looks like and do research on each ballot measure. Make sure you know who you vote for and what they stand for. Your school board can raise and lower your property taxes. Your local government is in charge of local sales taxes. These positions are important to enacting government change in your neighborhood. We live in a Democratic Republic with a Federal System, and this Supreme Court is giving more power to states than previous courts have. We have to make sure that great candidates win, and not just the person at the top of the ballot.
