With the U.S. election coming up, creating a plan to vote can be a helpful step to ensure your voice is part of the process.
The Forum team, located across the United States, shares how they are prepping to participate in the upcoming election.
“I live in North Carolina. Before this year’s election, I would drive to the nearby polling station about a mile from my house and vote in-person. This year I decided to request a mail-in ballot to complete at home. I received the ballot in the mail in mid-September, and I plan to complete the ballot and submit via mail by mid-October.” – Robert Albright
“I live in Kentucky and my backyard connects to the field of our local high school which is my Election Day Voting Location. On Election Day I’ll take the 2-minute walk over and cast my socially distanced vote in the old gym.” – Sharon Ide
“I live in California; I have received a mail-in ballot for at least 20 years that I can remember, and probably longer. I started doing mail-in initially because I traveled for work. As ballots got longer and longer, I appreciated the opportunity to complete my ballot at my leisure and not having to complete it in the voting booth. My practice varies from year-to-year. Sometimes I mail it in, sometimes I drop it off at my voting location or the county registrars drop box at the county building and sometimes I don’t fill it out at all and actually vote in person and destroy the mail-in ballot. Haven’t decided what I will do this year—other than vote.” – Junious Williams
“I live in California, where everyone will be receiving a mail-in ballot. I plan to return my ballot within one week of receiving it in October. I will drop it in a ballot drop box located in front of my city hall. I also am doing lots of postcard writing to ‘get out the vote’ leading up to the election.” – Jennifer Splansky Juster
“I already voted. Filled out my ballot but instead of mailing it, brought it to the dropbox at my local library. Beyond volunteering to help get out the vote on November 3rd, I will also be working at polls on election day to help make sure every vote in Milwaukee, Wisconsin is counted.” – Paul Schmitz
“I live in Maryland and requested a mail-in ballot since I was due to be out of town during the election. I just received my ballot and my plan is to complete it and return it to my local drop-in ballot box when it opens on October 2. My elderly mother lives with me and has already completed her ballot, which I will take with me to submit when I return mine.” – Sheri Brady
“I live in Washington State, which has been doing all mail-in voting for years. We normally get our ballots 3 weeks or so before the election. I like to complete my ballot pretty early and then I walk it over to a Vote drop-off box near where I live in Seattle’s University District. After dropping that off, I can always check on the status of my ballot via WA State’s voting website, which is pretty handy.” – Tracy Timmons-Gray
If you’re in the United States, we encourage you to consider what your voting plan might be. Every state process is different, so thinking ahead about how to get your vote in can be helpful. Everyone deserves to have their vote counted, including you. We encourage you to share your voice and your vote this election.
