A LOT of states (and DC!) hit their by-mail voter registration postmark deadlines at the end of today. Is yours one of them? If you still need to register, meet us over at vote.org/register-to-vote now!
Also: early voting begins today in Maine, Montana, Nebraska, and New Mexico!
North Carolina for the not-win
All right, North Carolina. That’s enough changing your laws all over the place already.
Sure, your big in-person voter photo ID law doesn’t happen until 2016. But you seem to have forgotten to mention that you’ve recently changed some other important stuff.
First, you finally made an official state form for absentee ballot requests. That’s kind of nice, since, prior to that, you required voters to actually type or handwrite a request themselves, making it hard for us to make sure people put the proper information on their requests, since you actually forbade us creating a ready-made application.
But now you will only accept the official form? You might want to, you know, make a little effort to make sure people know that. I mean seriously, your site doesn’t even mention how things used to be or that you recently changed the entire way voters have to request their absentee ballot.
Then you go ahead and eliminate voter registration from One Stop Absentee Voting, and, again, kinda pretend it just never existed. Do you want voters to feel like they’re crazy? (‘Say, I could swear we used to be able to register to vote and vote all at once during the early voting period.’ 'Nope. You’re wrong. Explanation: unnecessary.’) Plus, without voter registration, calling it “One Stop” seems a little, I don’t know, not true?
OK, OK, I know. I’m being a little bit hard on you and singling you out. Do you deserve it? Absolutely. Are you the worst offenders when it comes to needless complexity and lack of transparency in voting? Arguably, yes. But are only ones making trouble? No. And I know that. I’m just sayin’, no more surprises for a while, OK? We good?
MARYLAND VOTERS! Your governor, Martin O'Malley, is pushing for legislation that will allow voters to register the same day they cast their ballot! Note: This will not apply to an election day registration, only early voting.
BE SURE TO SHARE THIS! As soon as you vote, REBLOG THIS. Whether you voted already (early or absentee) or are voting in person at the polls on November 6, share this image as soon as you fit in the “I Voted” category to show off to your family and friends how much of a genius you are, just to remind them they should do the same and be just as proud. DO IT!
A little late, sure, but a still good time.
See if it’s still an option for you: http://longdistancevoter.org/early_voting_rules
If you are registered to vote and reside in:
Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, or Wyoming
You can vote NOW! Away on Election Day or want to beat the lines? Go to www.longdistancevoter.org to find your regional elections office or County Clerk’s office!
BREAKING NEWS! BREAKING NEWS! BREAKING NEWS! We just wanted to make certain you realized the importance of this decision. Two weeks ago, we asked our Facebook followers how they felt about the efforts that Jon Husted, Ohio Secretary of State, and other politicians in the state were leading to limit early voting hours in primarily Democratic counties. Many cried foul and were outraged at what they considered voter suppression on the part of Ohio Republicans. The opposition mobilized, seeking a Federal Court Order. To avoid further conflict, the Secretary of State has instead chosen to stand down on his previous decision and allow local government officials to have the authority to set early voting hours. This is a huge victory for those fighting to end voter suppression. Long Distance Voter eats voter suppression for breakfast, so this is quite exciting.
Early voting rules? Updated!
Just completed a substantive refresh of our early voting page (we define early voting as any voting done in person before election day). Woot.
I gotta say, no matter how many times I come across it, I really can’t get over how different each state is. Not just their laws, but also how (or whether) they choose to present information to the public.
Take Arizona. You’d think they’d say somewhere on the Secretary of State’s website that voters can vote in-person at their county elections offices starting 26 days before the election without needing an excuse. You’d think. But you’d be wrong. You have to dig through mountains of election code to find any mention of in-person early voting procedures (which changed some time in the last year or so – it used to be 33 days before the election).
South and North Dakota? Same deal. They offer in-person early voting. I know they do. But from the look of their websites, they sure don’t know they do.
I suppose this is why we exist, but come on guys. It’s a pretty useful piece of information. Just. Mention. It.
WHEN THE AUDITOR SENT ME MY BALLOT 40 DAYS BEFORE THE ELECTION
Show your appreciation for public servants by voting early!
