89 Day Until The Midterm Elections
And why it matters
We are now under the three-month mark until we vote in the midterm elections on November 3 (or earlier, if you live in a state where early voting is an option). But this is not just a marker of how close Americans are to having the opportunity to deliver a firm message to Donald Trump about the future of the country. It’s 89 days out from the election, and that’s legally significant for every registered voter.
States update their voter rolls in anticipation of elections. That makes sense; people move away, and people die. But a federal law, The National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), requires states to complete purging their voter rolls 90 days before an election. Once we hit the 89-day mark, you cannot be removed from the list of active voters.
That means it’s time to check your status and make sure you’re listed as an active voter. If you aren’t, or if you haven’t registered yet, the time to get that fixed is now!
Inactive voters can still vote, but they have to jump through the extra hoops after voting a provisional ballot; that can mean showing up by the end of the week at a county office with additional proof of your status and it frequently results in ballots not being counted, considering the time and hassle involved. As you might expect, the problems tend to be most acute in states that are most interested in suppressing the rights of eligible citizens to vote.
So here’s your action item: Check now, take a screenshot showing you’re an active registered voter, and make sure you’ve got it on hand come election day. You can no longer be removed. Hold onto your documentation that you were an active registered voter past the 90-day mark, and if you run into any problems on election day, you’ve got proof of your eligibility.
Most states have their own website that lets you check your status, or there are a number of sites like vote.org that let you check directly.
Smart voters know it’s not enough anymore to register to vote. You have to know how to stay registered.
Please share this with everyone you know. It’s important knowledge for everyone to have.
We’re in this together,
Joyce
I hate that 250 years after our founding, we still have to deal with shit like this.
Make a copy of this on paper and hand it out to those who are not proficient at computer work, send it to those who are, and emphasize the importance. The word has to get out beyond people who read Joyce! Excellent column.