“The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”
–U.S. Constitution. Amendment XV, Sec.1
It’s a right not all countries have. A right that has been a pillar since this Nation’s beginning. A right that many do not take advantage of.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 61.4 percent of the voting-age population actually went to polls in 2016 to vote in the presidential elections. However, that percentage drops about 20 percent when it comes to midterm elections. That number continues to drop even lower when talking about local elections.
We are always told to go out and vote, but sometimes those are the only instructions we receive. With this edition of Adulting with Abby, we’ll go over some basics of voting and utilizing your full 15th Amendment right.
Registering to Vote
Registering to vote literally takes 2 minutes. Go to this website, https://www.vote.org/, and you can either register to vote OR check to see if you are already registered.
Absentee Ballots
Absentee voting is mail-in voting. It is when a ballot is mailed to you, and you can send it back via mail or in person. An absentee ballot is needed when you are residing outside of your registered county of residency. For example, if you are living at college, and away from your hometown, you will need an absentee ballot.
Certain rules and conditions are required to be eligible to receive an absentee ballot; they vary by state and can be found here. States also vary in when to request your absentee ballots and at what time/date they should be sent back. Deadlines for those dates can be found on the U.S. Vote Foundation website.
You can also register for your absentee ballot at the same website that you can register to vote on. (Once again, it will only take 2 minutes.) Some states will, however, not distribute absentee ballots via online and will require you to call your Local Election Office. You can find your Local Election Office here.
Photo by Mirah Curzer
Types of Elections
It is practically impossible to miss the Presidential election that occurs every four years. There are, however, many other elections that occur each year.
First, the midterm elections happen every two years on November 6th. The 2018 midterm elections are for the following: 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, one-third of the U.S. Senators, 36 state governors, 3 U.S. territory governors and various city mayors.
Local elections can occur at any time during any year. Local elections can include electing a state’s governor, state legislature, city mayor, court judges and local officials. These elections can also include ballot initiatives, which have been implemented in 24 states. Basically, a ballot initiative is the opportunity for people to vote on rules or laws, holding the state legislature and governor accountable for decisions that fail to satisfy all interested parties.
To find local elections in your area visit https://www.usa.gov/election-office or at the U.S. Vote Foundation website, which can also be used for election deadlines.