Make a plan to vote. Know your options. Ignore partisan noise.
Nobody needs to be told about the stakes in 2020’s fall elections. But what has been missing from coverage of ongoing presidential smears, postal service worries and questions about more congressional aid in a pandemic is information for voters on how to successfully vote.
Never before will so many Americans vote from home using mailed-out ballots. Yet many voters, especially in communities of color, cherish voting in person. They want to see votes cast and received, even if that means waiting for hours in primaries with far fewer polling places.
The Independent Media Institute’s Voting Booth project has studied 2020’s spring and summer primaries and produced a guide for voters to successfully cast a ballot this fall. The “2020 Fall Voter Guide: How to Make Sure Your Vote Counts” is based on the latest trends, lessons learned, the legal and procedural landscape, and what will not be likely to change for voters this fall.
The guide urges voters to have a plan. That plan starts with ensuring that one’s voter registration information and signature are current. The voting guide explains how to do that. The guide also reminds voters that there are three ways to vote—from home via a mailed-out ballot, before Election Day at an in-person early voting site, and on Election Day, November 3, in most states. It discusses the pros and cons of each way to vote, including what voters need to do if something goes wrong.
New ways of voting are always challenging for voters and officials. But even in a pandemic, the surest way to have elections with irrefutable results is when the turnout is historic, the process is orderly and victory margins are wide. Voting Booth’s “2020 Fall Voter Guide: How to Make Sure Your Vote Counts” tells voters how to cast a ballot that will be counted this fall.
Read more at the National Memo, or download the guide.
