#sample ballot

[thashining]

Updates

@dasiadoesit

[theconstitutionisgayculture]

Things to Know Before You Vote

Disclaimer: As you can probably tell by my blog name, I'm a right winger. I vote Republican or Libertarian and I've only voted for a Democrat once when I was 18 and I still regret it to this day. But the information I'm providing in this post is an unbiased as I can make it. I want this to be a general guide so people can make as informed a decision as possible when they go to vote. If you don't believe me, read the post for yourself and decide.

Things to Know Before You Vote

First, check out a sample ballot to familiarize yourself with the candidates running and the issues up for consideration. Pay special attention to the names down ballot, and extra special attention to the ones without a party affiliation. Sample ballots can be difficult to find, so it might take a little work. For example, I live in Ohio, so what I do is go to the Ohio Secretary of State website, click on my county, put my name in, and it will give me a downloadable PDF of my ballot. This will be the same ballot you get when you go to vote. I said it before, but it needs to be repeated, pay special attention to the candidates with no party affiliation. These are usually for judge spots, and those are super important. You can't just vote for the one with the name you like. Bad judges can ruin your district. When you see these candidates, you need to look up who they are. You can do that by putting their name, along with the position they're running for, into a search engine. Or you can try a website like Ballotpedia that collects election information, but those sites don't always have every candidate listed. More on Ballotpedia after the break, but for now let's talk about what happens if you can't find a listed party for a candidate. Sometimes you can't, but that's okay. Pretty much every candidate will tell on themselves. Just look up who endorsed them, which they will usually have on their websites, or it can be found through searching. If they're endorsed by a bunch of Democrats, chances are they're a Democrat, and vice versa. They'll also usually state their positions on issues somewhere, or in the case of an active judge, you can find how they ruled on cases with some more searching. Both of those are more important than party affiliation, especially if they were unopposed in the primaries. Once you know who you want to vote for, write their names down and take that paper with you to the polls. It's not illegal to look at a piece of paper while you're voting. It is illegal to campaign within 500 feet of a polling place though, so don't pass that paper around inside the building, or you might be in trouble, depending on how strict they want to be.

Now, I know searching each name on your own is really tedious, so let's talk about aggregates.

I'm going to use Ballotpedia for this post. They seem to be mostly non-biased, and I used them for my last local election and it was a great help. But if you have a preferred alternative, feel free to use that instead.

Sample Ballot Lookup

It's easy to use Ballotpedia to find candidates in your area. On Ballotpedia the "sample ballot" isn't really a sample ballot like the one you get if you followed my advice earlier. It's a list of the issues on your ballot and the candidates running in most of the races, but not all. You can click on the issues and the candidates and find information on who they are, what they support, what they've done previously in and out of politics, who they ran against in the primaries, how many votes they received, etc. You can read brief summaries of the issues, along with the exact text that's up for a vote, and you'll usually see a short summary of what supporters and detractors have to say about it, complete with actual quotes. You can also see a lot of info on how your district voted in the last election, and some other interesting stuff. They try to present both sides of the issues, but as always research further if something seems off to you. Candidate pages are usually decently detailed, with links to each candidates website and social media (if they exist) so you can read what they post for yourself.

I can't stress enough how important it is to know who you're voting for. Don't just blindly vote, or assume you know what a candidate supports. I know it's work, and I know it's boring, but you'll feel great when you show up and know you're making an informed decision. Especially in local elections. Those can be decided by the smallest number of votes between winners and can have lasting consequences not only for your town, but for you directly. Vote wisely.

[sanguinifex]

If you check your sample ballot and see that there's a Republican or Libertarian running unopposed, contact your county's Democratic Party office and ask if there's a write-in campaign! There's a District Court of Appeals justice with an unopposed Republican on mine, so you bet I'm calling the [Redacted] County Democrats in the morning! And I'm also going to ask them about get-out-the-vote efforts and if I can help.

[lavender-gardenias]

How to Vote in Every State 2018

[lizardbytheriver]

Sample Ballot Lookup

Use this tool to review your ballot selections in preparation for voting

This was very helpful for me. I recommend looking up who's on your ballot ahead of time. See who's your local candidates. See which parties (including third parties) are on the ballot. Start formulating a plan on how to vote. And that plan looks very different if you are in a red district/state, blue district/state, or swing district/state. I cannot tell you who to vote for. I encourage you to vote. Even if you hate the two main political parties, there are often times other options. Personally. I found a local democrat running and I quite like her platform (marijuana legalization). But I also found two green party candidates in different races who I want to support as well. My vote on the presidential office very much depends on whether I live in a swing or solid state. (Regardless of how I vote, I will not endorse either of the two main candidates.) I know everyone is stressed and anxious about this election. But go in with a plan. No matter what happens, there is much work to be done.

[tonomato39]

2020 ballot measures - Ballotpedia

2020 ballot measures - Ballotpedia

Ballotpedia: The Encyclopedia of American Politics

Please don't forget to vote on the ballot measures. Check your ballot pages front and back, to make sure you don't miss anything. You can see what's on your ballot here. You might be asked to vote on the gig economy, marijuana legalization, abortion rights, sex education, taxes, voting rights, public school funding, and more.

[tonomato39]

Sample Ballot Lookup - Ballotpedia

Sample Ballot Lookup - Ballotpedia

[intelligentchristianlady]

Get Ready!

Are you registered?

Have you sent or emailed your request for an absentee ballot?

Have you asked your local party headquarters to send or email you a SAMPLE (not an absentee) ballot? You need this now in order to familiarize yourself with the actual ballot--make sure you know who you want to vote for in the down-ballot races, especially the nonpartisan ones.

When you receive your absentee ballot, READ THE DIRECTIONS. This is really important. For instance, if you have to vote both sides of the ballot, you cannot mark it with a Sharpie or a gel pen--they will bleed through to the other side and invalidate your ballot. You will need a ballpoint. Does it have to be black? Find out. What are other special instructions in your locality? Find out. Do you have to put a stamp on the envelope? Find out. Get a stamp.

My state is already sending out absentee ballots. I have already received mine. I have already filled it out and followed all the instructions for return. Because I registered with the state board of elections, I can track it: I mailed it at 11:30 a.m., and that afternoon I received an email telling me that my board of elections had received notification from the USPS that my ballot was inbound.

And this is why absentee ballot fraud is almost nonexistent. It’s MY ballot, and I can track it.

Do it as soon as your state allows. The earlier you vote, the easier this whole process will be for everyone concerned. The sooner everyone votes, the sooner we will have definitive results. We don’t want to be in limbo for days or weeks after November 3.

Please vote.