Do you need to know who is on your ballot? The Center for Voter Education has an excellent tool to determine your ballot. Type in your address and you’ll get information on which electoral districts you are in, plus a chance to read information about all the candidates running in your district and make the right decision for you. It’s also user-friendly.
You cannot vote straight party ticket this year. However, you can write down the names of people you want to vote for and take them into the voting booth.
Do you need to know where to vote early? How about on the day of the election. Both of those links go directly to the State Board of Elections website, where you can put your address in and verify both your early and regular polling places and your registration status.
Unless you vote early, you must vote in your precinct on election day to be counted. You can request an absentee ballot here.
If you did not get registered to vote on time, register anyway. We still have an election in May and next November. Stay registered and be ready to vote next time. Also, if you are already registered in the county you reside in and all you need to change is your name or address, you can do that at an early voting site.
YOU DO NOT NEED TO SHOW YOUR ID AT THE POLLS THIS YEAR. More on that and when that change will happen here. Also, a one-page list of all the changes in state voter law and when they will go into effect.
If you still have questions, contact your county elections board. Here is where you can find their contact information.
Finally, only because we are still new to news gathering and making judgements, we will not endorse a slate of candidates. Plus, at our heart, we are an explainer site. However, we do like this blog from former News and Record editor-in-chief John Robinson on why actual newspapers shouldn’t stop endorsing candidates. (TLDR: we expect certain papers to make the decisions they do anyway).
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