im a 21 year old (ive never voted before) but i want to vote this time for bernie. can you please explain when voting starts, like what date and what should i do. i graduated high school 3 and a half years ago and i really dont remember that well when it comes to what needs to be done to vote
It takes some dedication to become involved in the political process, mostly because there are so many vested interests trying to keep you from doing so.
Also, I almost guarantee that what I am going to tell you was never covered in High School.
Your First step is to: Register to vote.
In order to vote for Bernie Sanders in the Primaries different states will have different requirements.
You will not have to register for any party in order to vote for Bernie Sanders in the Primaries if you live in: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin.
You will have to be either registered as a Democrat or be Unaffiliated In order to vote for Bernie Sanders in the Primaries if you live in: California, Idaho, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Washington and West Virginia
You will have to be a registered Democrat in order to Vote for Bernie Sanders in the Primaries if you live in: Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, DC, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Wyoming
In many states you have to be registered as a member of that party for 30 days prior to the primaries in order to vote, although that isn’t always the case. So your best bet is to register now.
Next, find the date of your primary or caucus and vote.
Due to the large amounts of money and time that candidates spend in the states with earlier primaries and caucuses, many states will spend this year changing the date of their events. Rules are also subject to change at the same time.
THE INFORMATION BELOW IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE. CLICK THE LINK FOR MORE INFORMATION AND FOR ANY CHANGES IN DATES OR RULES.
As of June of 2015 here is the tentative schedule for the Democratic Primaries and Caucuses.
Nevada Non-binding Precinct Viability Caucuses
South Carolina Presidential Primary
Alabama PrimaryArkansas PrimaryColorado Precinct CaucusGeorgia PrimaryMassachusetts PrimaryMinnesota Precinct CaucusesNorth Carolina PrimaryTennessee PrimaryTexas PrimaryVirginia PrimaryVermont PrimaryAmerican Samoa Territorial Caucus (presumably)Oklahoma Primary (presumably)
Democrats Abroad Global Primary
Louisiana PrimaryNebraska Precinct Caucuses
Michigan PrimaryOhio PrimaryMississippi Primary (presumably)
Puerto Rico Primary (presumably)
Florida PrimaryIllinois PrimaryMissouri Primary
Arizona PrimaryIdaho County CaucusUtah Neighborhood Caucuses
Alaska Precinct / House District CaucusesHawaii Precinct CaucusWashington Precinct Caucuses
Colorado District Assemblies/Conventions
Connecticut PrimaryDelaware PrimaryMaryland PrimaryPennsylvania PrimaryRhode Island PrimaryNew York Primary (presumably)
Guam Territorial Caucus (Party run primary) (presumably)
Oregon PrimaryKentucky Primary (presumably)
Washington Congressional District Caucuses
California PrimaryMontana PrimaryNorth Dakota Legislative District CaucusesNew Jersey PrimaryNew Mexico PrimarySouth Dakota Primary (presumably)
District of Columbia Primary
As long as you followed the first step and registered to vote, your state will send out information about your voting location and what you need to bring to that location in order to vote.
I know this is tons of information and that it seems super complicated, it is set up that way on purpose. Those in power want you to react:
The powerful are banking on us acting this way.
They know that the Millennial Generation is now the largest voting generation in History. They know that we have the ability to enact change in a way that has never been seen before and they are scared.
This is our first chance to make the changes we want in government. I know it may be difficult to become involved but if we learn anything from our parents generation it should be that a lack of participation in politics only makes the system favor the wealthy and hurt the rest of us.
Let’s not make the same mistakes.
