Do you have a voting plan?
Don’t keep your deepest-held convictions to yourself. Take them to the ballot box!
Don’t be complacent, thinking that others will vote enough to obtain the results you desire. And don’t be discouraged, thinking your vote doesn’t matter. It does!
If you already have a plan for how and where to vote, you can skip this post. But there might be something here you haven’t considered. Or maybe it will help you help someone else to make a voting plan.
Why reinvent the wheel?
I was planning to gather, organize, and present some basic information about voting when I remembered there is a single site that does that already! It’s for everyone, regardless of political persuasion or location: Vote.org.
“Everything you need to vote” — that’s how Vote.org bills itself. And they’re not wrong!
Vote.org is the largest 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan voting registration and get-out-the-vote (GOTV) technology platform in America. (See Wikipedia for more info.)
Your vote matters now more than ever before
Don’t leave anything to chance. Make a voting plan!
This post is as nonpartisan as I could possibly make it. I’m not addressing any candidates or issues.
But if you want to know where I stand politically, and why I’m encouraging everyone to vote, click here at your own risk!
Using the Vote.org site
If you don’t want to supply personal information to Vote.org, on the first form you encounter on their website, keep scrolling down and select your state. (Or the state of whomever you are helping to vote.) It will take you to your state’s voting information site. The voter websites/portals vary for each state. Examples include Secretary of State, County Clerk, and Board of Elections.
If you want to register or check your registration, you will still have to provide a certain amount of identifying information to your state’s voting site, but you might feel more comfortable doing it there.
Pay attention to which fields are required and which are optional. I did use the Vote.org form, but I did not supply my cell phone number because I don’t want any more texts than I already get!
There is no cost to use Vote.org. Feel free to donate, if and when asked, if you want to help the cause of getting out the vote. But it’s completely optional.
Voter Registration Deadlines
The Voter Registration Deadlines are different for each state. They are important both for registering to vote and for checking your registration status (in case something happens, and you need to re-register).
Voting plan checklist
These are all Vote.org activities, with my comments added.
✔ Register to vote
If there was ever a year where your vote matters it’s this year!
Encourage your friends and family to register, too. Sometimes all it takes is having a voting plan. Share this post with them or look up their state’s voting page for them.
✔ Check your registration status
Probably nothing bad has happened to your registration. But it never hurts to check!
I actually read that we should check it weekly between now and election day. Weekly! Well, I’m not going to check mine weekly, but if you live in a state like Georgia or Texas or Floritda, which have all recently been in the news for un-registration form flaws and for purposefully deactivating registrations, you might consider checking more than once.
Your registration could be missing or inactive for several different reasons ranging from completely innocent to nefarious.
✔ Request a mail-in ballot
You don’t have to do this, but if you want to, I suggest you do it early. I have a standing order for a mail-in ballot. Last time I procrastinated, which meant I didn’t get it mailed back in time and had to go to my polling place after all. That’s OK, because the line for dropping off a ballot is usually practically non-existent compared to the line for voting.
Don’t forget to check the status of your mailed-in vote before election day. (Was it received and recorded?) You may still need to go in person to vote.
✔ Find polling locations.
My polling location has been at the same for several years. Do you know where yours is? Do you know anyone who might need a ride? Ask them! Do YOU need a ride? As Election Day approaches, Google “Ride to polls 2024 _______” (fill in your city) and see what’s available. (You’ll also see a few nation-wide programs that may or may not service your location.)
Get a group of friends together and make a party out of it!
✔ Get election reminders
I’m not sure what sort of reminders there will be, because I’ve never signed up on this site before. I presume that if you have filled out the Vote.org form they will customize your reminders according to your location.
✔ See what’s on your ballot
Remember: Voting for down-ballot offices and issues is just as important as voting for President and Vice President!
Got young-almost-adult children?
Almost-adults need a voting plan too! Also available on Vote.org:
✔ Pledge to register for those under 18
✔ Pre-register for those under 18
Here’s another non-partisan site that is geared to young people: Rock the Vote.
Does this help you with your voting plan?
Do you know someone who is planning NOT to vote?
Is it because they think their vote doesn’t matter?
Or is it simply because they need help getting registered and getting to the polls?
Will this information help you help them?
Happy voting, and feel free to share additional national, nonpartisan resources in the comments below!
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- Hazel Thornton is an author, genealogist, and retired home and office organizer.
- Hung Jury: The Diary of a Menendez Juror
- What’s a Photo Without the Story? How to Create Your Family Legacy
- Go With the Flow! The Clutter Flow Chart Workbook
- Feel free to link directly to this post! Click here to ask about other uses.
- Copyright 2024 by Hazel Thornton, Organized for Life and Beyond
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Share this:
Thanks for all the great info, Hazel. I do already have plans to vote–I’m actually pretty excited about it this year! Vote.org looks like a magnificent site. Very organized and thorough.
Yay! Now get all your friends to vote too!
Voting is important in all elections. Everyone has the right as an American citizen to participate in this process. Thank you for sharing this valuable information, Hazel!
There have been elections in my life where I did not vote. But now I think of it as not only a right but a responsibility.
Thank you for the info, Hazel. I agree with you 100% that people must vote. It’s one of the privileges of our democracy and something I don’t take lightly.
I looked at your chart, which makes a compelling argument for why voting matters. It’s hard to understand why people think their vote doesn’t count. I get how the Electoral College diffuses your vote to some degree, but not completely. Your vote matters, and I can’t wait for the opportunity to exercise this right…a right women didn’t always have.
I never heard of Vote.org. Nice to have all of that in one place.
I remember asking my girls to register to vote as a birthday present to me. I want their voice represented. I think it can feel discouraging to vote if your point of view is in the majority where you live. It can feel like you vote and vote, but nothing ever changes. It’s important to keep voting, to keep showing up.
I do think everyone should register, and I am fine with needing to show ID to vote. In my town, I have to show my driver’s license. I think this protects the integrity of the election, regardless of party or affiliation. I have to show ID for everything now. I still don’t love having to submit it electronically, because this feels “steal-able” to me, but sometimes, I’m not given an option.
Yay! (I always worry I’m telling people things they already know.) I wonder if you’ve seen the Purple States of America? It’s an interactive map that shows, instead of blue and red states, a more accurate representation of HOW blue or red (i.e. what shade of purple) a state really is. And if you click the dates at the top you can see how it changes over time. The point being that we’re closer to being in alignment than we think. And your vote really does matter!
This was very enlightening. I enjoy following the US election and I hope your blog post gets more people out to vote. Thanks for sharing about Vote.org. This is a great topic that I never thought about from an organizing perspective. Do you need a ride, will you be in town or away and have to vote at advance polls? Are your polls open when you finish work, will your employer accommodate you so you can vote? Does the weather affect your ability to vote? You have me thinking now.
Right? There’s a lot to consider when planning to vote! Thanks for your interest in our election, Julie!