Start Preparing for Early Voting Now
- In North Carolina, early voting begins Thursday, October 23rd, and ends Saturday, November 1st at 1:00. So, essentially, you have eight and a half days to vote early.
- Go to your county's website to find the early voting locations and hours. You can vote at any early voting location in your county.
- You can, and should, download your sample ballot now. Go to https://www.ncsbe.gov/.... search/
- Start doing your research now. There is a North Carolina Constitutional Amendment on the ballot. There are numerous "non-partisan" races including Supreme Court Chief Justice, Supreme Court Associate Justices, Court of Appeals Judges, District Court Judges, Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor, and County Boards of Education. As members of Daily Kos, we have all learned the importance of every race up and down the ballot. Today's district court judge is tomorrow's candidate for the federal bench.
- When you have finished doing your research, share what you have found with family, friends, anybody you think might find it helpful. Email copies of the completed ballot, or print copies to hand out; and tell people to remember to take the completed sample ballot with them. Most people don't research the non-partisan races and either leave them blank or vote for the incumbent. But if they know ahead of time, thanks to you, their vote can make a difference.
- If you come across someone who hasn't registered to vote, the deadline is October 10. If someone prefers an absentee ballot, the deadline for requesting one is October 28.
- Note, you can download your completed ballot to your smart phone to have in front of you when you fill out your actual ballot; but there are signs in the voting area that say that cell phones are not allowed in the voting booths. So it may be better to take a paper ballot, or at least make sure your smart phone doesn't ring.
- Take copies of the completed ballot with you when you go vote. There may be people in line with you who will greatly appreciate knowing who to vote for. Of course this depends on whether they are fellow progressives or not.
- Encourage people to vote early. It can be easy, especially in non-presidential years, for folks to put off voting until the last minute, and then come up with an excuse why they can't make it. So ask regularly, "have you voted yet?". Some will find it helpful if you email them a list of the early voting locations and hours.
- Armed with your research and your encouragement, there will be people voting who might otherwise have never made it to the polling place. And they'll be voting for judges and school board members who others will be skipping over. And they'll be making a difference.