Election Ed: The breakdown for first-time voters

Written by Rachele Terranova, Graphics by Nadia Nugent

Welcome to Election Ed Lesson One — this first installment is going to be all about your rights as a voter, the importance of your voice and making sure voting goes smoothly from registration through election day. Bringing this to the students at SCAD feels very full-circle for me, so I’m excited. When I was a freshman, I was also a first-time voter in the 2016 election. Not only was there a lot I wasn’t prepared for when it came to voting out-of-state, but I had never taken an interest in politics up to that point, leaving me unaware of the big picture we are really implementing as voters.

Before we get into it, I’m going to give a little synopsis of what Election Ed is going to look like: There are going to be six installments, or “lessons,” coming at you every Monday from here on out between now and Nov. 2, the day before election Tuesday. The lesson plan starts with this week’s Voting and Your Voice. Following this, we will continue with Political Parties, Candidate Platforms, WHO You’re Voting For (on the ballot), WHAT You’re Voting For (bigger picture policies) and will finally round out with a last-minute day before election Social Considerations.

Time to get Election Ed(ucated)!

Voting Process

There is a lot to consider when it comes to voting especially this year with some added restrictions due to COVID-19. Many SCAD students are newly 18 and this is their first time being eligible to vote, or maybe you just didn’t participate in the past election — either way, it is important we utilize our civic responsibility in constructive and informed decision-making.

Voter Registration

When it comes to the technical aspects of voting, it can seem really overwhelming to get to the point of having your ballot. It is different on a state-to-state basis. But in our case, I will be referring frequently to absentee voting since many SCAD students are back in Savannah away from home and voting absentee.

Here’s the initial breakdown of the voter checklist, start to finish:

First, check if you are registered to vote, even if you remember registering or have voted in the past. I will talk a little about voter purges later, but it’s very possible you have been kicked off the voter registration roll (very prevalent in Georgia). You also want to make sure you have the correct name and address listed (no typos!).

You can check your registration status in your home residential state at vote.org in fewer than thirty seconds.

Finally, it’s important to take into account if your state accepts online voter applications, if you have to register by mail (or at your town clerk or local elections office), or if your state allows election day registration.

Absentee Ballot

College students are a large group requesting absentee ballots, myself included. In order to request an absentee ballot, you have to make sure you do so before your home state’s deadline (though many states are sending absentee ballot request forms to all residents in light of COVID-19).

That is not the only deadline you have to be conscious of — because your ballot will be traveling through the mail, you have to take into account the time it will take to get there (factoring in Coronavirus-related mail delays).

There is a lot going around about the “real” request for absentee ballots and when you should mail your vote, but to avoid getting too technical or specific when all of us are from different states. Let’s err on the side of caution: plan to request your ballot as early as possible by your state but no later than fifteen days before the election. That way, you can mail it back at least a week before the Nov. 3 election.

Early Voting

Most states have early voting. This means you can vote in-person without an excuse, and some states even allow submitting your absentee ballot in person before election day. There are some restrictions on voting in person, whether during early voting or on election day, if you’ve already requested an absentee ballot. So again, check with your town clerk or local elections office.

Voter Suppression and Restrictions

The spectrum of voter suppression by state is pretty varied (with some states getting hit pretty hard with restrictions), so it can be really difficult to know what hurdles to look for in order to make sure your vote is counted.

A big, nationwide rule of thumb to make sure you don’t disqualify your vote: check the signature on your government ID and copy that on your vote. Not doing so can disqualify your vote in some states, if it doesn’t match. Even if your state doesn’t require an ID, or doesn’t require a photo ID, we are still erring on the side of caution this election so bring your government photo ID with your signature being used on your ballot if voting in person.

By Mail

Now, if you are voting absentee, you are voting by mail. There are some state-to-state restrictions on who and why you may, or may not, be eligible to vote by mail and for what reasons.

ID Laws

States like Georgia can be very strict when it comes to the form of identification presented when voting, and it is non exclusionary to in-person voters. Though these ID laws are put in place to avoid voter fraud, it can make it difficult for minority groups to get their vote counted based on their non-compliant ID.

In Georgia, as I mentioned there are ID restrictions. One, specifically, is known as the “exact match” law. This requires the ID be an exact match down to the spacing and punctuation — so like I said before, no typos! Many states will not count your student ID as valid, while some states do accept a gun license (this is the case in Texas)

Polling Place Closures

Once again, Georgia happens to be one of the states that sees a lot of stress on polling locations. This election it will be really important to check your polling station, then check it twice, and make sure you know the closing hours and show up early.

In the Georgia primary we saw polling location lines exceeding five hours, many locations were closed, especially in rural and minority areas, and the closing hours were far earlier. In these more minority or rural areas where polling stations can change last-minute and the location can change to a completely different area — the same is happening in many states making it nearly impossible for some voters to make it to the polls.

The best way you can make sure your ballot can be cast is being prepared on where, and how, you will get to your polling location in time.

Voter Purges

As previously mentioned, I want to introduce voter purges. These purges are essentially states having the ability to remove people off the voter roll. The reasons why you can be removed vary state-by-state, but in some states, it includes not voting in two federal elections. Otherwise, states can be performing voter purges for maintenance of registration lists, but millions of voters are being removed by some sort of error. So, even if you think you’re registered to vote, double-check your registration still stands.

Voter Rights

Modern voter suppression aside, we are collectively indebted to the social and racial rights activists for their fight to give all citizens the right to vote. For this reason, it is crucial we honor these leaders, many of whom we lost this year, by fervently exercising the right they dedicated their lives to.

Some of the incredible people to recognize that gave us the opportunity to vote through these pieces of legislation and the efforts to uphold them include: Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Ida B. Wells, Martin Luther King Jr., Fannie Lou Hamer, John Lewis, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and beyond.

15th Amendment gave African American men the right to vote.

19th Amendment legally guarantees American women the right to vote. This followed decades of struggle and protest women endured.

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee starting summer 1961, 16 young people began as the SNCC’s first field staff who developed their grassroots community organizing through canvassing door to door for voter registration in the deep South.

Voting Rights Act of 1965 got rid of factors of black enfranchisement by banning poll taxes, literacy tests, and other measures that prevented Black Americans from voting

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 is considered to be the first major attempt at a federal level, requires accessibility within polling stations.

National Voter Registration Act 1993 attempted to increase the historically low registration rates of minorities and persons with disabilities by requiring both federal and state agencies to assist in voter registration procedures.

Help America Vote Act 2002 passing both federal legislatures with bipartisan support authorized the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make polling places accessible to persons with disabilities with sharp focus on individuals affected by visual impairments.

Voter Turnout

The United States is one of the countries with the lowest voter turnouts, not because it is inaccessible but because people are uninformed.

In the 2016 election, 92 million or 40 percent of eligible voters did not vote. This was more than the number of votes any candidate received, meaning only eight states plus DC had enough voters that a candidate received more votes than ballots that were not cast— the results? Clinton would have left with D.C., Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Colorado, while Wisconsin and Iowa went with Trump. The remaining 42 states won out with their non-voter numbers.

With almost 37.5 percent of the electorate being Millennials and Generation Z in this election, our generations, we have the power to determine the outcome.

Resources and Action

What can you do to continue your education at home or jump into making a difference yourself?

Follow

Social media is a great tool to utilize for education — websites with useful social media that I often look to are Know Your Vote, Future Earth, Intersectional Environmentalism, Vote Save America and ACLU Nationwide. Plus, these accounts have some great visuals on their Instagram pages.

Read

You don’t have to read full books to educate yourself, short news articles have become a daily way I make sure to stay informed every morning. Or, check back next week for Election Ed Lesson Two!