I have encountered 3 different cases where someone did not register by the deadline in their state and regretted not doing so. One of those being my dad.
About a week after our deadline here in Indiana, my dad called to ask me how he could register. I told him the deadline had passed. My dad has not voted in over 30 years.
Something told me that with my dad being hard of hearing, there might be the possibility that he was asked if he wanted to register to vote when he got his drivers license updated. On a hunch, I headed over to www.canivote.org (which will direct you to the voter information in your state) and did a quick check for him. Sure enough, he had been registered to vote since 2005.
After that, I had two more people message me, disappointed they had not registered. I explained my dad's experience to them and had them run their own information – AGAIN, they were registered to vote. Which by the way, if you have any questions at all about your candidates, voting, registration or a news article you have seen and want to verify, I am more than happy to help – I’m always just an email away.
By checking your registration status serves TWO purposes:
- See if you can vote now that you want to
- Prevent someone else from voting using your name
Whether or not you plan to vote, I encourage you to check your status NOW!
Through that same link you can see exactly who is on your ballot. You can print a copy to take with you if you would like to do research and mark your preferences before you go to the polls.
I am working on a post that provides details on the sites and resources I use to do my own research on the candidates on my ballot. I hope to have that posted later this evening. Stay tuned.
Gayla – follow me @Gayla and on Facebook
