If you want to do everything you can to make sure your vote is counted, you’ll need to be a diligent voter, no matter what kind of voting system is used at your polling place. This post begins a series of tips about what to pay attention to for early, absentee, Election Day and provisional voting with paper and electronic systems.
How can you make sure your vote counts if you’re asked to cast a provisional ballot? These situations may cause you to have to cast a provisional ballot:
• your voter registration is challenged
• machines at your voting place malfunction
• record-high voter turn-out leads to a shortage of regular ballots
Detailed information on these situations will be covered in its own, special post.
A WORD TO THE KIND AND WISE: Vote Early, Vote Kindly!
If you are eligible to vote early, please do. And kindly encourage all of your friends, family and associates to do the same. Not only will you relieve the already strained election infrastructure by casting your vote as soon as possible, you’ll also then be freer to help others through what is shaping up to be an exciting yet challenging Election Day.
Early and Absentee Ballots
Most states and the District of Columbia allow registered voters to cast in-person ballots BEFORE Election Day. In all but four of the 34 that allow early voting, no reason or any reason is reason enough to vote early. In the four that require a reason, typically acceptable reasons include illness, military deployment outside of the jurisdiction, or absence from the state on Election Day. To learn your State’s provisions, check this page.
To cast an absentee ballot, you must request an absentee ballot well BEFORE Election Day and return the completed ballot no later than the strict deadline in order for your vote to be counted.
Not all States are prepared to handle early or absentee ballots in a timely fashion. So don’t put off exercising this option if it’s available to you. Visit your state’s election website for more information now.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Judith Sullivan 11.01.08 at 5:27 pm
I voted early, it was easy and fast. This leaves me time to help out on election day by taking people to polls or helping in any way that I can.
admin 11.01.08 at 6:40 pm
Brava, Judith! We’ll try to get a VoteKindly.org button to you on Monday so that you can wear it and remind others to follow your lead on Election Day.