I registered to vote at the DMV the other day, so how do I get a list of voting days and a list of people/things that I can vote for? I know November 4th is for senators/congressmen/presidents, but what about the mayor of my town or the governor of my state? How do I know what I can vote for based on where I live?
You’ll recieve a voter i.d. card in the mail. It’ll have pertinent info. on it. Voting location, elections that you can participate in, etc. Happy voting!
Election Day is the second Tuesday after the first Monday in November (which only means it’s not November 1). All Federal, state, and local elections are held that day throughout the US.
There also are primary elections, which are held at different times in different states. Your board of elections will have that information. They’ll also have lists of candidates and other things to vote for on Election Day.
Congratulations on being registered, BTW.
The easiest way is to just become a permanent absentee voter (vote by mail) and have all the ballots sent to you.
smartvoter.org also seems to have info on local elections.
One small correction on Chuck’s reply. While major elections are generally on the first Tuesday following the first Monday that isn’t all of them.
Most county-level boards maintain four potential voting dates per year. Here where I am it’s February, May, August, and November. These non-November dates can have primaries, school board issues, local initiatives, and what-have-you.
Good luck!
Go to the website for your county. They’ll have a list of all upcoming elections. You’ll probably get a sample ballot in the mail a month or so before any election.
Nah, we vote for mayor in April here. Local elections can be whenever. It’ll be in the newspaper, though.
This. Wait for ballot. Vote. Send ballot back.
Everything (I think) should be through your county. Your county will probably have an election administration or something like that listed on-line or in the phone book. Otherwise, contact the county auditor or county courthouse. You could also contact the office of any elected official (city council, mayor, governor, representative, senator) and I’m sure they would provide you with any information you need.
I’ve been registered to vote in two states and never had any sort of voter ID card. Where are you that you get such a thing?
I recommend visiting the website of the League of Women Voters. They have non-partisan information on when and where to vote and also provide information on the candidates and the issues.
Not all states allow that. I know Virginia doesn’t.
California.
To answer the other question, California also allows permanent absentee voter status.
Ed
What! Unfathomable cruelty! Do they make you mark with quills and vote in Olde English too?!
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I’ve been registered to vote in two states and never had any sort of voter ID card. Where are you that you get such a thing?
South Suburbs of Chicago. Maybe it’s a County thing.
I’ve never not had an ID card, having been registered in four states counting where I am now, but I’ve also never needed one. I don’t remember even having to show any ID for the last election, they just looked me up on their list. Of course, from my experience with the local DMV, things are pretty casual around here in general.
Living in a small town, I hear far more than I want to about local politics (like the woman who had some sort of a personal grudge against the mayor and tried to get him recalled pretty much single-handedly) but there hasn’t been a local election since I’ve been here. It’d be in the paper, or I could call the county, I suppose.
I should mention that in California it’s not so much a voter ID card as a voter registration card. It’s used by the goverment to prove to you that you succcessfully registered. You don’t need to show it to anyone at a polling station.
Ed
I’ve been a registered voter in California for many years and I’ve never been given an ID card.
Bleah. I meant registration card. My brain stayed in bed this morning.
Elsewhere I did have to show an actual ID to vote, but I’ve never had to show the registration card, which leaves me wondering why they bother printing the things.
I never heard of such a thing as a voter identification card, but the website of the Cook County Clerk’s Office mentions that they’ll send out such a card to registered voters.
As I said, it’s not an ID card, but in Alameda County they send a voter registration card as proof that they successfully processed your application. I dropped mine in a desk drawer and haven’t needed to use it in more than ten years.
Ed