Know your rights before heading out to vote on Election Day, expert says
Whether you're voting in D.C., Maryland or Virginia, know your rights before heading out to cast a ballot on Election Day.
Whether you recently moved or you never got around to registering to vote before your state’s deadline, there are things voters can do to help make sure their voting experience on Tuesday goes smoothly.
To check your voter registration, the National Association of Secretaries of State has a website that voters can use to check their status. That site links to local boards of elections in D.C., Maryland and Virginia. The secretaries of state are those responsible for serving as the state’s chief elections official.
Voters in D.C., Maryland and Virginia can register and vote on the same day.
Joanne Antoine, executive director of Common Cause Maryland, told WTOP that if voters know they are registered and eligible to vote, but are being told they can’t vote on the regular ballot, “Don’t leave on Election Day without at least casting a provisional ballot.”
Unlike during the early voting period, Antoine said that on Election Day, voters need to go to the correct polling place.
“Visit vote.md.gov and look up your assigned polling location,” she said.
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If you’ve moved, but didn’t update your new address, Antoine said, “Look up the polling location that’s assigned to your new, current address. Go to that location, update your registration while there (so that you can vote).”
“You will more than likely be asked to vote using a provisional ballot, which is fine,” Antoine said. “Your ballot will still be counted.”
Antoine said there are some cases in which voters reported they had requested mail-in ballots, but didn’t get them. Those voters who head to the polls to vote in person will likely also be asked to vote provisionally.
“Because we need to make sure that the ballot that was issued to you first, that that wasn’t voted already,” she said.
Provisional ballots are real ballots, but Antoine said many people worry about whether they will actually be tallied. Voters may believe the provisional ballots are thrown away.
“You should think of it just as a security mechanism (that makes sure each vote) is only being counted once,” Antoine said.
Antoine stressed that even in Maryland, where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans, voting is “a bipartisan, transparent process, (that is structured) so that your vote is counted, the way that you intend.”
Unless you are registering and voting for the first time, you won’t be asked for proof of identification. Otherwise, “You need to be able to show proof of residency. So I think going with an ID, bringing something like a cable bill or a bank statement with you that also shows your address,” Antoine said.
Should a voter run into something other than a good-faith effort to allow them to cast their ballot, Antoine said it should be reported. Common Cause has a nonpartisan hotline at “866-OUR-VOTE” or a voter can report it to their local board of elections office.
Again, in that case, she said don’t leave the voting precinct without casting a provisional ballot. But do report a problem, “to make sure that the state board and the local board corrects that right away.”
While it can be frustrating to wait in long lines, Antoine said to remember that elections officials at the polling place are “playing a critical role (and) they’re doing their job in wanting to ensure that the people who are voting that day (are eligible to vote).”
“So be kind,” she said.
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