For your voice to count in our democracy, you have to register to vote — and you have to actually vote.
“The best way to see something actually get done is to vote,” said Ed Ryan, the Democratic commissioner for the Board of Elections.
The election is on Nov. 8.
Here are some tips, from the Onondaga County Board of Elections, on the nuts and bolts of voting:
Who’s eligible to vote:
To vote, you must:
- Be 18 years old by the date of the election
- Be a U.S. citizen
- Have lived at your present address for at least 30 days before an election
- Not have claimed the right to vote anywhere else
- Not have been convicted of a felony or be incarcerated or on parole.
To register to vote:
Oct. 14 is the deadline for most residents to register. But new and naturalized citizens and honorably discharged members of the military have until Oct. 28.
To register, you can visit the Board of Elections website (www.ongov.net/elections). There, you can download and print out all necessary forms to register. You can also find helpful links to maps and polling site information. You can also get the forms and return them by mail. Or you can register in person at the Board of Elections’ new office, located at 1000 W. Erie Blvd.
If you have not voted in the past four elections or in the last presidential election, the elections board has possibly put you on its “inactive” list. That means in order to vote you need to update your voting status. To do that, you should request an affidavit ballot in person or through the mail. Then submit it to the elections board by Election Day, and your “voting status” will automatically be updated.
Voting by absentee ballot:
If you’re not going to be here on Election Day, you might be able to cast an absentee ballot. To qualify for an absentee ballot, the election board website says, you must be:
- In the military and stationed away from Onondaga County or
- A registered voter who’s out of the country or ill on Election Day or
- Permanently disabled
To get an absentee ballot, you must register either in person or through the mail no later than Oct. 28. The application can be downloaded online and all absentee ballots must be postmarked by Nov.7. All ballots must be received by the elections board by Nov. 15. If you’re in the military, your absentee-voting deadline is Nov.21.
Election commissioner Ryan says as long as all the ballots are postmarked by the designated dates and all guidelines are followed, there should be no concerns as to whether your vote was counted.
“We wait seven days till after the elections until we count them,” said election commissioner Ryan. “So absentee voters have a week after the election for us to receive them. That way we ensure we accounted for every absentee ballot, wherever it may be coming from.”
(Stephanie Narvaez is a senior with dual majors in broadcast and digital journalism and international relations.)
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