nb4 “just Google it,” fuck off.
Saw a meme reminding me about primaries next year, and the top comment was about voting at primaries and for local positions. My problem is I have no idea how to find where or when these elections are taking place. I don’t see them advertised or mentioned anywhere; hell, sometimes I only know an election even happened because of the news reporting after the fact, if I even hear about that. Last time I tried looking for a local election, I couldn’t find any information on voting dates, locations, or times, nor any information on the people who were on the ballot. Because of that, I wasn’t able to vote, despite driving around town the supposed day looking for booths in a last ditch effort.
Is there some website or something I can check for consistent, reliable, and complete information? I know these things differ by state, but a) I’d rather not give out my location, and b) I imagine I’m not the only one with this question: others could use similar resources for their states.
There are other similar websites that can walk you through registering to vote, but I like this one because they make it easy to find out what elections are coming up. Just put in your street address. No sign up required.
Another option is Ballotpedia.
That’s an awesome site
Another idea to add to the pile, Google your county’s “board of elections” and I think you’ll probably find some resources and where the finalized ballots will be ahead of the election date.
Check with your states Secretary of State. There’s usually a list of elections there.
Might also have to check with your city/county.
Local libraries also typically provide information like that as a service.
The library is an excellent resource
It really is, yes.
We should protect them at all costs.
Yeah, maybe it varies by state but where I have lived you can register to vote at the library as well. The other place you run into is the DMV, but no one wants to go there unless it’s an emergency. Moving from Florida to Tennessee, I was shocked when it said you could make an appointment to get quicker wait times, I went to schedule an appointment for the following Monday, to which I found out there were no appointments available for just over 2.5 months. So everyone just shows up and waits, which I’m sure just makes less time for appointments, and thus keeping wait times rediculous during peak hours. (Which seem to be all hours they are open here).
Extended bitching about the DMV here. I once went to get a new license, they gave me a paper one and said it will ship to my house. 2 weeks later I called and they said it could take up to 90 days but usually only takes 2 weeks. 31 days in I went back to the DMV and told them grocery stores won’t take the paper ID after 30 days as they consider it expired, even though the expiration date says years down the line. (Kroger, Publix). Well I was running instacart orders after work to make a few extra dollars to pay off some things. Mid 30’s get denied buying groceries because they had a bottle of wine or something and obviously only pissing off people who order at that point. I asked the DMV if I could buy a normal ID while waiting for my license to arrive, nope. They stated if I get a State ID it would mark me as no longer having a valid driver’s license and they would have to start the possible 90 days over, and have to collect the State ID when they issue the paper license. Fucking pain in the arse.
Anyways, go to the library, or register online
Re: the dmv and long lines. If your state allows it, go to a smaller town the lines are shorter. Some even allow a different county.
Your local county election commission will have all the details you need.
Register to vote?
Registering to vote and knowing (who is running and what issues are on the ballot) are two different things. Ok technically the stuff in the parenthesis are two items but I’m grouping them.
If you live in the best states you get your ballot automatically mailed to you.
Yarp. Ok, step 2, live in a good state.
