5 simple questions on voting

Brut America

Where can I vote? When can I vote? Is there a dress code at polling places?   HeadCount volunteer Kat Jutras answers five simple questions about voting. In partnership with Global Citizen.

Transcript

00:00I'm really passionate about voting because I've never been able to do it.

00:04For some people that would deter you from ever getting involved but for me it was like how can

00:10I still contribute? How can I still try and make an impact in my community? And for me that was

00:16engaging people about politics and really asking them to use their privilege to vote.

00:24If you don't want to wait until election day to vote you can do two things. You can either vote

00:49by mail or you can go to a voting location designated as an early polling place. Normally

00:57you're going to want to leave some room for processing if you're sending it by mail so we

01:02suggest as soon as you can complete it, sign it, and mail it back. You can take that ballot and

01:08drop it off at a voting center drop box location or send it back through USPS. It has to be post

01:15marked by November 3rd. If you're going to vote in person the most important thing is to not wear

01:26any campaign specific clothing or memorabilia, pins, buttons. You can wear red, white, and blue.

01:33You can wear something USA related. Yes, you can wear a band t-shirt. However, wearing campaign

01:39clothing or memorabilia is called electioneering and it's another form of campaigning.

01:49So the most common form of ID you can use when you vote is your state driver's license. It should be

01:56updated if possible. You can use your passport. It is a federal document with your name and

02:02information on it. So some states will allow you to use a student ID to vote but generally you're

02:08going to need a state ID if you're going to vote in person. If you're not using a state ID you can

02:16look up what other forms you may be able to use like a utility bill or something like that. If

02:23your ID has expired while we have been in this COVID-19 pandemic, you can call the recorder's

02:32office or the secretary of state's office or look it up online to see if they'll accept a expired ID.

02:38The recorder's office is a public records facility essentially where people can access

02:45public records or government information. There are some states that don't require

02:50any ID but it's important to look that up before you go to the polling place.

03:00To find the closest polling location you can go to the secretary of state or

03:05recorder's office. Normally there'll be a really easy way on there to find your

03:09closest polling location. Some states require you to go to a designated area

03:15near where you live. In other states you can go to any polling location. I highly recommend you

03:21checking your mail-in ballot if you have one and are choosing to do that.

03:26It'll tell you the closest place to drop it off or mail it back to.

03:34So if there's an error on your mail-in ballot, something like your name's incorrect or your party

03:40affiliation is wrong, you can give them a call. There should be a number to call on the back of

03:45your ballot or on the envelope that you received. But if you've made an error and how you filled it

03:51out and realized it after you left or after you've mailed it, there is not really a way to correct it.

03:58But they're mostly looking to see that everything has been completed entirely,

04:04all the bubbles are clear and filled, and the signature matches the ID.

04:08They just want to let people know that you're valued, you count, and the voting process is a

04:15way that that is measured. The representatives that we have are all in based off of people

04:22voting. Elections are made and broken sometimes based off of a few thousand votes or a few

04:29hundred votes. So each person really does matter, each person does count,

04:34and the way you can speak up about it is by voting.

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