As you may have heard, the United States of America is holding a presidential election next month. In fact, the election is already happening in many states, where early voting has begun.
Want to get in ahead of the crowd? Early voting often allows you to avoid long lines and crowd hassle on Election Day, but not every state offers it. If you’re not sure if your state allows early voting, just fire up the Google search engine and search for “how to vote.”
As described in a blog post last summer, Google provides geographically relevant info as to where and when you can vote. You can also find information on absentee voting, if it’s not too late in your state. (And if you live in Oregon, everyone there can vote by mail.)
If you do plan to vote in person on November 8th, you can also find out what type of identification you need to bring with you. On your local Board of Elections site, you may also be able to see a preview copy of your local ballot — which may include independent candidates who are not on a national ticket.
The campaign season — which started last year with candidate declarations and even a few bare-knuckle primary debates — has been comparatively volatile. Yet, in the midst of all the screaming from the super-sized personalities, it’s sometimes hard to hear the actual issues. If you haven’t been paying attention until now and want to know where the candidates and their parties stand on topics like healthcare, job creation, immigration and more, roll on over to the campaign’s website:
- Donald J. Trump (Republican)
- Hillary R. Clinton (Democrat)
- Gary Johnson (Libertarian)
- Jill Stein (Green)
If you want to see the party’s official platform, you can find that online easily too:
The Washington Post also has a handy state-by-state voter guide with links to state elections sites and the Vote411.org site from the League of Women Voters is full of useful information, including what types of voting machines are used in your state. And if you’re tired of blathering cable-news heads bringing you the campaign news of the day, cruise by the C-SPAN site for thorough (but low-budget) coverage of the election and other government goings-on.
Already voted? Tired of the whole political season? Just want some escapist entertainment? A new trailer for this December’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story dropped last week, which for many, already has a much more compelling storyline.