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Driving home this morning (having spent last night at Jenn’s), I intentionally drove past my polling place to see how long the lines outside were. To my surprise, there weren’t any. Upon arriving home, I double-checked that my polling place hadn’t moved due to some bizarre storm-related damage or something similar, and it had not. Armed with this knowledge, I grabbed my knitting and headed back out into the world.
I didn’t even get a chance to open the knitting bag. There was no line. I’m hoping that this is because all of my neighbors got their voting in early (and often, of course), and not because of a general lack of voter turnout. However, given the lines I was seeing at the early voting polling place (which is just across the street from my house), I tend to think it’s the former, and not the latter.
So, if you’re eligible to vote, get out there and do it.
A few days ago, I was talking with the son of a friend from high school. Today will be the young man’s first voting experience. He was asking me some questions about what he should do and how he could be prepared. Here’s part of what I came up with, in a more presentable form.
Know what will be on your ballot, and how you want to vote. The first time I voted, eons ago, I was a stupid kid. (Arguments about how much this has changed are not relevant to this discussion.) I figured voting was going and picking who you wanted to be your next president, and maybe a congressman or senator or two. I think there was a mayoral election the first time I cast a vote, but in Hawaii at that time, it was kind of a foregone conclusion, if it was on the ballot. I didn’t realize that there were all sorts of other things on the ballot, including a lot of things that were more interesting to me than some of the high visibility races. Board of Education seats, state senate seats, and these funky things called ballot measures. Ballot measures can have a big impact on the day-to-day or long-term life in your state. You should be prepared to make informed decisions about everything on your ballot, not just the big-ticket races. A good place to start is votesmart.org. You can enter your zip code, and it will bring up a wealth of information.
- Each governmental seat that pertains to your zip code, from President on down to state legislative and judicial seats. The incumbents are shown for each seat. If the seat is up for election, the candidates (if any, and not limited to the big two parties) are shown. You are able to view information including biographies, voting records, interest group ratings, issue positions, public statements, and campaign finance information for each person.
- Each ballot measure that will be on your ballot. You will likely see a layman’s summary of the measure, and the official text of the measure. There will likely also be links to the measure’s official web site, the full text of the measure, and any other pertinent information about the measure in question.
Don’t know if you need to provide ID when you go vote? If you do, what counts as ID? Take a look at this site, which breaks down voting registration and polling requirements state by state.
Don’t know where you’re supposed to go to cast your vote? You can find your polling place by searching mypollingplace.com, or even just asking Google “Where do I vote?”
What should I be prepared for when I go vote? Well, you may not be as lucky as I was, and there could be long lines. Some hints, which you are completely free to ignore.
- Go to the bathroom before you leave for your polling place.
- There may not be ample parking at your polling place. If you think this might be an issue, you can always walk / ride a bike / take public transit. If those are not options, be sure to factor in time to find a parking spot into your general plan.
- You may need to spend at least part of your time in line waiting outside. Dress appropriately. In many parts of the country today, that means layers, for the cold weather outside, and the (most likely) warm building once you work your way inside. Don’t forget things like gloves and hats if necessary.
- It might be helpful to include a backpack or other bag you can use to stuff things into once you start shedding layers.
- Bring a drink. (Not a cocktail, please.) A bottle of water is good. If you’re waiting outside, a thermos of hot chocolate or coffee might help keep you warm.
- Be prepared for rain. An umbrella and water-proof or -resistant clothing could go a long way towards keeping you from being miserable.
- Bring something to keep yourself entertained. A book, a portable game device, a phone to fiddle with. Anything that you can hold and use to keep yourself from getting bored. I usually take my knitting, which I know will surprise you all.
- If you’re bringing your kids with you, everything above applies to themas well.
- Dress them appropriately, including the layering thing.
- Make sure you have a way to corral all of the molted layers.
- Bring entertainment (preferably of the reasonably quiet variety).
- Bring snacks and drinks.
- If your child is going to need escorts to go to the bathroom or you’ll need to leave your spot to change diapers, it might be best to team up with another parent who has kids in tow, to keep your place in line.
- There will undoubtedly be people at your polling place handing out literature regarding a candidate or a ballot initiative.
- You are free to take or not take the literature as you choose.
- You do not have to interact with these people, but please be polite.
- If you do take the literature, please dispose of it properly once you’re finished with it. This does not include throwing it on the ground or leaving it on benches.
- There may be people taking exit polls as you leave your polling place. If you’ve watched the news following any election, you’ve undoubtedly heard of these. Exit polls are used to get a general idea as to what direction the votes are taking as election day progresses. As with the last-minute campaigners, you are not obligated to talk to the pollsters. But please be polite.
One final note: Nobody can force you to disclose your vote. This includes bosses, spouses, and clergy. Your vote is yours, and you do not have to share it with anyone. If you are asked who you voted for, or which way you voted on a ballot measure, and you are not comfortable sharing that information, you are under no obligation to do so. Simply politely tell the questioner that you’d rather not say, and move on. (This comes up because I once had a co-worker who I had to beat about the head and shoulders when I discovered he was pressuring all of his employees to tell him who they voted for in a presidential election.)
Hopefully somebody out there found this interesting and/or useful. Even more hopefully, all of you already had all of this knowledge, and are already wearing your “I Voted” stickers.