Vote for President

This article will guide you through the process of voting for president in the United States.

10 Second Summary

1. Register to vote online or at the DMV.
2. Look up your local polling place.
3. Bring a federal or state ID when you go to vote.
4. Give yourself at least an hour to vote.
5. Be familiar with different voting methods: paper, mechanical, and electronic.

Steps

Registering to Vote

1. Determine your eligibility to vote. Your eligibility is determined both by state and federal laws. Federal law requires that you be a US citizen, by birth or by naturalization, and 18 years old at the time the election is held. State laws vary, so you need to check with your local officials to determine your eligibility status. The National Association of Secretaries of State maintains a website that answers voter registration questions for each of the 50 states.
   • Felons and criminals have mixed rights, depending on the state. Some states take away your right to vote completely, others let you vote from prison. Be sure to look it up.
   • If you turn 18 on or by election day, you can register in advance so that you are eligible to vote.
2. Use the US Government's registration site to register in any state. Some states even let you register completely online. If not, you can print these simple forms out online and mail them in to register without leaving your home. You'll need basic information with you, like an ID card (with ID number) and your social security number, but the forms are self-explanatory. You can also drop your registration off at a polling place or city hall.
   • Party Preference will determine your primary vote in some states. In places like NY, registered Democrats cannot ever vote in Republican primaries and vice versa. In some states, party preference means nothing.
   • Absentee Ballots allow you to mail in your actual vote. The US government will mail you a ballot in September, giving you a month or more to vote remotely.
3. Alternatively, register to vote at your local DMV. To do so, you'll need 1-2 valid forms of ID (depends on state) and a few hours to wait in line. You will be given a simple form to fill out and your ID will be checked to make sure you're who you say you are. That is it!
4. After a few weeks, check to make sure that you were successfully registered. You will receive a card in the mail with your name and vote registration on it if you were successful. However, if you don't get a card, you can still check to ensure you're registered properly. Go to Can I Vote.Org and enter your 2-digit state abbreviation to go to your state's registration database. You will be directed to fill in your name, date of birth and the town you live in. If you are registered, you will see the following information:
   • The party you are registered under
   • The polling location address where you will vote
   • A link to the telephone number of your local registrar of voters
5. Determine if you need an absentee ballot. If you are an active duty member of the uniformed services, or a citizen living outside of the United States, you can still vote via absentee ballot. Go to the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) website This website provides links to active-duty members of the Armed Forces, Merchant Marine, Public Health Service, NOAA, and their family members, and to United States citizens who are living outside the U.S. for work, school or other reasons. Click on your state and you will see the following information:
   • The date of the next general election
   • The deadline date you must register by
   • The deadline date you must request your absentee ballot by
   • The date you must return your marked ballot (it must be postmarked before the election)
   • Links to your state’s absentee voting guidelines and to your state’s election website
   • Links to register to vote in the USA, if you are not already registered, and links to requesting and tracking your ballot.

Studying the Candidates

1. Think about the sorts of policies you support in a president. While a person's personality and temperament are important to consider, you need to think about each candidate not just as a person but as a set of positions. This is your representative from America to the rest of the country and the world, so you need to vote with a clear idea of the sorts of ideas and policies they will implement. Some early considerations must include:
   • Social Policy: Do you want a candidate who enforces a traditional social order, attempting to ground America where it is, or a candidate who wants to keep the government from interfering in social practices, like marriage equality?
   • Economic Policy: Do you believe taxes should be used to improve communal government infrastructure and services, or cut low, leaving these services to private businesses?
   • Foreign Policy: What would it take a candidate to send American troops overseas? Do you want someone who willingly uses force or someone who prefers diplomacy?
   • Domestic Policy: A big, big topic, this covers everything from immigration, renewable energy, gun rights, and more. Domestic policy varies even within the two major parties.
2. Search for candidate summaries online to determine each nominee's credentials. There are a variety of good, independent websites that note the major similarities and differences between candidates, and you should use this as a launching point for your research. Never, however, trust just one of these sites. Read 2-3 different overviews to help cover your bases and minimize any biases for either candidate that the original writers might have had.
   • Try out Project Vote, Rock The Vote, Vote Smart, or I Side With for good starting spaces.
3. Read each candidate's web page to see where their priorities lie. A candidate's major website is, more or less, one giant advertisement. It will, of course, contain a lot of bias and benefits for the candidate. But that doesn't make it unhelpful. Rather than trust these sites as news sources, use them to see where the candidates really want to focus their energy. For example, a candidate may have a stance on immigration that you like, but they never talk about immigration on their website. Chances are good it is not a priority for them if they win the election, even if you agree.
   • Are the top three ideas on the site "Crime," "National Defense," and "Foreign Policy?" Then you know the candidate's major focus all election will be safety and defense.
   • Click on "Major Policies," "Positions," "Ideas," "Tenets," or any similarly broad word to find a list of candidate priorities.
4. Watch at least 1-2 speeches from all major candidates. Don't trust everything you read -- take it straight from the source. Give each candidate the chance to win you over in "real-time." While the positions are important, you still need to think about a candidate's temperament, ability to speak, and their calm (or lack thereof) under pressure.
   • Spread out the subjects of the speeches. You can usually look up things like "Obama on Foreign Policy," or "Obama on Tax Cuts" to get his perspective on a variety of topics.
   • While you should also check into debates, don't watch them in place of a few speeches. Candidates are very different when given 30 seconds to speak as opposed to 30 minutes.
5. Sign up for a short, free, and weekly news briefing to keep up to date as the election approaches. It is much harder to cram then to study a bit about the candidates in the months before the election. Sites like the New York Times, Real Clear Politics, Politico, and FiveThirtyEight all have weekly or daily press releases. Usually, they are short paragraphs filling you in on any political changes over the week, with links to articles you might like.
   • Alternatively, make a site like Google News or Real Clear Politics your home page. Every time you open your browser, key news and articles will be there if you're interested.
6. Expand your search to 3rd party candidates, knowing that they are never a "waste" of a vote. Many people instinctively think that, because they won't likely win, 3rd party candidates are a waste of a vote. Nothing could be further from the truth. Independent parties actually receive government money based on their votes that lets them bring their ideas to the winners not as party positions, but as the will of many real voters. While a 3rd party candidate might not win outright, enough support can help 3rd party ideas win and gain traction with Democrats and Republicans.
   • For a recent example, look no further than the 2016 primaries. While Bernie Sanders didn't win enough votes to become the nominee, his "independent" votes have caused Hillary Clinton to adopt his supporters' views ($15/day minimum wage, anti-Trans-Pacific Partnership), knowing she needs to respect her voters and the will of the people.

Voting on Election Day

1. Double check your voter registration a month or so before the election to prevent issues on Election Day. Especially today, when voting issues have already consumed primaries in NY, AZ, and elsewhere, there is no reason not to be extra-sure of your Constitutional right to vote. Head once more to Can I Vote.org and check in with your local election board. You do not want to have this fight on election day if there is an issue.
2. Look up your local polling places ahead of time, as well as their open hours. Call or look up your local election board. In most cities, this is simply the city's board, like "The San Francisco Board of Elections." In smaller towns, it is likely a county board. Still, a call to city hall or a quick internet search should reveal the location easily. Be sure to look up:
   • Polling place address.
   • Alternative polling place.
   • Hours of operation.
3. Bring a valid federal or state ID with you to the polling place. Different states have different needs, so bringing an ID is always worth it if you're unsure about the requirements. If you have your voter registration card and want to be sure of no issues or problems, bring this along as well. Note, however, that many states only require ID.
4. Budget at least an hour to vote, just to be safe. Depending on timing, population, and the available polling staff, you could be out the door in two minutes or two hours. Long waits to vote are supposed to be rare, but, again, recent issues with the 2016 primary (where voters waited 4-5 hours in some areas) have exposed problems with the system that have yet to be addressed. Instead of forfeiting your right to vote because you have to leave, make sure you give yourself time in case of issues.
5. Know how to differentiate, and work, the different types of voting when you step in the booth. Voting can be done by paper and pencil, mechanically or electronically. The most common ways to vote are:
   • Paper ballot. You simply mark your choices with a pencil (the ballot looks similar to the type of school test you used to take by filling in answer circles). You place your marked ballot in a locked box or put it through a scanner (someone will help you with this if you aren’t comfortable doing it yourself) before you leave the polling room.
   • Mechanical voting machines. Many localities still use mechanical voting machines. You step inside the “box” and the curtain automatically closes behind you so that you may vote in private. The candidates and issues are listed on the left side of the machine. Depress the small lever next to each name or ballot question—either “yes” or “no.” When you have cast all your votes, you will slide a large lever (located at the base of the machine) all the way to the right. Your votes are registered in the machine and the lever opens the privacy curtains so that you can exit.
   • Electronic voting systems. Even though most voters are computer savvy these days, each state that uses electronic voting provides an instructional tutorial to voters before they vote. If you can navigate your way around a computer or a smart phone, then voting electronically will pose no challenge to you. You simply look at the screen, make your selections (touch point screen) and when you have cast all your votes, you touch the “Cast my Vote” button that is located at the bottom of the screen.

Tips

• Voting will go faster and easier if you do your homework first. It’s wise to have made your decision before you enter the voting booth—the person you vote for president of the United States (and your congressional representatives) will affect your life in many areas, including social, educational and financial. Your vote, along with millions of others, will put the people in office that can make decisions and enact laws that will affect your retirement and health care benefits.

Warnings

• State voting laws vary; be sure to find out all you need to know about voting in your state. For example, you cannot vote in a primary unless you have a party affiliation (Democrat or Republican). You also may have a waiting period before you can vote with your newly affiliated political party. You can, however, switch affiliations as often as you like. Some states require that you are registered to vote a set number of days before Election Day.

Related Articles

• Decide Who to Vote for US President

Sources and Citations

• Read the full text of the United States Constitution
• Frequently asked questions about voter registration
• Read about voter fraud and voter suppression tactics

See also

• Persuade People to Vote for You
• Convince Someone to Vote
• Register to Vote in the United States
• Become a Registered Democrat
• Vote in the United States
• Check if You Are Registered to Vote