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Things You Should Know About Voting

1. You are eligible to vote if you are:
   
   
• a citizen of the United States
  
  
• a legal resident of your state
  
  
• at least 18 years old by election day
  
  
• not in prison or on parole for a felony (varies, check with your State, City or County Elections office or Secretary of State)
  
  
• not declared mentally incompetent by a court (varies, check with your State, City or County Elections office or Secretary of State)
  
  
2. You may register and vote even if you cannot read or write.
3. You can register to vote by filling out the short voter registration-by-mail form. Sign the form. Mail it. Voter registration forms are available at the post office, library, fire station, Department of Motor Vehicles, welfare department, Registrar of Voters, and the State, City or County Elections office. Also, many social service agencies have forms. Register anytime, but be sure to do it by your state's deadline if you want to vote in the November election.
4. You can't be sure you are registered until you get a voter notification card from the county. If the notification card does not arrive within three weeks of mailing your registration, call your Registrar of Voters or State, City or County Elections office and ask if you are registered.
5. If you move, change your name, or want to change your political party, you must register to vote again. If you move right before an election, you may vote by returning to your former precinct or by requesting a vote-by-mail ballot.
6. If you fail to vote in a number of consecutive elections, please check with your State, City or County Elections office to see if you are still eligible to vote. This would vary with each state.
7. You can only register for yourself. However, you may help others fill out a form, but they must sign the form.
8. Joining a political party is as simple as checking the box for the political party of your choice on the registration form. There are no requirements to join a political party. You may check the "decline to state" or independent box on the form if you do not wish to belong to a political party. A political party is a group of individuals who try to determine public policy by organizing to win elections and operate government. If you want to change your party affiliation later, you have to reregister.
9. Before each election, in some states, each registered voter receives a packet of information including a Sample Ballot, which is a replica of the ballot the voter will see at the polls. It also gives the time and date of the election, the location of your polling place, and an application to vote-by-mail. If it doesn't arrive two weeks before the election, call and request one from the Registrar of Voters or your State, City or County Elections office.
10. Your polling place will be in your neighborhood. If you receive a sample ballot, the exact address will be shown on the back. Otherwise, the address will be on your registration card. Both should show whether the polling location is accessible to the disabled. Polling places may change from one election to another. It is important to go to the correct polling place because your name will not be on the roster of voters anywhere else.
11. Check with your local State, City or County Elections office to learn what you should do if the polling place is not accessible to the disabled. If you prefer to vote in person, get as close to your polling place as you can and a precinct board member will bring you a ballot for you to cast.
12. The time polls are open on election day varies by state. Check a newspaper or your State, City or County Elections office.
13. Contact your State, City or County Elections office for information on obtaining an absentee ballot and about deadlines.
14. In some states you will be asked to show your ID in order to vote. In other states, you are asked to state your name and address and to sign the roster of voters. Bring along your voter registration card.
15. To help you vote, you can bring a friend, a relative, a teacher, a parent or anyone else. This person can help you read the ballot or use the voting booth to vote.
16. On Election Day, you will vote on two types of things: people — candidates who are running for elected office and plans — ballot measures, which change state or local laws. You do not have to vote on everything. You can just vote on the things you care about.
17. In order to vote, you will sign your name on a list of all the voters in your area. You will be given a ballot and you will enter a voting booth. You will put the ballot in the voting machine and mark your choices. If you make a mistake on your ballot, you may request another one or correct your choice on an electronic voting machine.
18. Ask Elections Officials at the polling place if you need help marking or casting your ballot. Take your time. Some states limit voting to ten minutes, but will extend that time if no other voters are waiting. You may take your pre-marked Sample Ballot into the polling place with you.

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