Five Things You Can Do Today on National Voter Registration Day

We are living through a pivotal and historical time: a crucial presidential election and a civil rights movement, all in the midst of a global health crisis. Participating in elections and doing your civic duty is a vital aspect of our democracy that all should participate in. But it does not stop there. On National Voter Registration Day (9/22), here are five things you can do today for yourself and for the people around you!

1.  Register you AND two!
   • Make sure you’re registered to vote, and make sure your friends are too! Follow this link to register yourself and two others.
2.  Request your mail-in ballot.
   • Almost all states are offering mail-in voting (also known as absentee voting) for the November 3 election. Follow this link to select your state and be taken right to your state’s mail-in voting pages
3.  Sign up to be an election judge or poll worker.
   • Given the current health crisis, many of the usual poll workers and election judges will be staying home. We need younger election judges and poll workers now more than ever! Sign up to be one in Maryland here. Find more information on poll working in other states here.
4.  Develop a plan with your friends and family to go to the polls. Or find your polling and ballot box locations, and devise a plan for getting your ballot postmarked.
   • Maryland, among other states, are offering ballot drop box locations in addition to regular polling locations. Find information for Maryland here and for other states here.
5.  Read up on the candidates and have discussions with your family and friends.
   • Educate yourself on the issues most important to this election. Read up on all you can. And more importantly, discuss with those around you how these issues effect them. Listen not just to rebut, but listen to understand that everyone’s experience is not the same as your own.

See you out there (at the polls, dropping of mail-in voting, and engaging in our democratic process)!