Voting

Believe it or not, it’s that time again! To be honest, it has felt like ages–I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling that way. Yes, Tuesday, November 3rd is the day of the election! However, the options for registration are going to begin to diminish starting on October 4th, 2026 (if not earlier should the powers that be get their way). Stay vigilant, be earlier than expected, and make sure you’ll be able to be heard on November 3rd.

As I write this blog, the Trump administration is fighting tooth and nail to deny you your right to vote. They will use any means at their disposal to make voting difficult for you. They are well aware that they do not have majority support in this country. It is our responsibility to ensure that this infringement of our rights is ultimately unsuccessful.

This post will detail when deadlines for different states will be and what you can do to easily check your registration and get registered if you need to. It is super quick and easy. I highly recommend doing it now, coming across this post is your sign to act!

The site I’ll be sourcing throughout this blog is vote.org. They have a super organized website which lists out everything you’ll need. I’ll link the home page here if you’d rather just go ahead and do this on your own: (vote.org) Otherwise, I’ll walk you through step by step below.
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1. Check Your Voter Registration

The first step is to double check if you’re registered. Simply head over to vote.org to do this. I’ll link directly to the form to check registration here. If you’re registered, you’re all set! The only thing you might want to set up is mail in voting or early voting. These options are super handy if you are busy and want to vote on your own time, have something going on on election day, or won’t be in your registered state during the election. I’ll include how to do both of those things in the next two steps.

If you are not registered, you should be prompted with the form to get registered. If not, I’ll link it here. The registration process should take about two minutes.
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2. Vote By Mail

​This option is wonderful for students going to college away from home, and anyone else who simply would rather just vote on their own time. I utilized this option throughout college because it let me vote in my local home elections while I was away. I now utilize the option to give myself time to properly research candidates and vote according to my own schedule.

You need to request an absentee ballot in advance of the election. States have differing deadlines for requesting one of these ballots. You can find a list of these deadlines on the calendar below:

Apply for yours here. This online form will then route you to whatever else needs to be done according to your state. Voting by mail means that your state will mail you an “absentee ballot" you can fill out and return on your own time - although I would recommend doing it as close to when you receive it as possible! 

After you send in your application, you should receive confirmation via email about when you can expect to receive your ballot. Upon receiving the ballot, simply fill it out with your choices and follow the instructions for mailing it back.

Again, be vigilant and have a backup plan in case the Trump administration is able to successfully crack down on this as a legitimate option for voting. If you do not receive your ballot when expected, plan on potentially voting in person instead. It’s scary that this even needs to be said, but the current administration is terrified and will stop at nothing to cling onto power.
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3. Early Voting

Early Voting allows you to head over to your polling location on a day earlier than the election to cast your ballot. The requirements for early voting also differ by state, and some states don’t offer this option at all. You can see a full list of the requirements and deadlines for each state at this link here.
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4. More Voting Tools

In addition to getting registered, vote.org also offers a wonderful tool that lets you get a look at the ballot ahead of the election to have more time to look into and research the options that will be there. It includes clarifications on what party each candidate is a part of, and even links directly to their websites so you can get a sense of their policies. I’ll link to the form to check this here.

​While people very likely already know who they’re voting for in terms of the presidency. It’s less likely that people are aware of what else to expect. Therefore, I highly recommend this feature! It’s a huge time-saver and way easier than googling around the day before, trying to get a clearer picture of how to vote.
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Conclusion:

I believe that’s everything you’ll need! If you’re interested, vote.org also offers cool features like reminders to get registered, pledges for those who aren’t yet eligible to vote, etc. I’ll link here again to the general homepage: (vote.org).

I hope this blog was helpful, if not for getting registered, then at least to give you some more options and tools in preparation for November 3rd! Until then, thank you for reading, and happy jamming!