What's Your Voting Plan

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Johnson County voters broke a record this week by showing up in unprecedented numbers to cast their ballots early. This county in the Indianapolis metropolitan area could be a part of a national trend for the 2018 midterm elections, NPR reports that the percentage of eligible voters participating this year could reach a high unseen since 1970. Analysis from FiveThirtyEight suggests that voter turnout among young voters may also climb to hitherto unseen heights. If you want to join those voters, here’s how you can make a plan for when, where, and how to vote.

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When?

The election will take place Tuesday, Nov. 6, when polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time. If you showed up before 6 p.m. but are still in line after the polls close, voting officials must still allow you to vote.  If you can’t make it at those times, you can still vote early on a day that works for you either by mailing in an absentee ballot right now, or by showing up to one of these six polling locations during the times listed starting Oct. 26 if you live in the Indianapolis area.

Where?
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The six early voting locations in Indianapolis are all located near bus stops and have free parking nearby, and are among many throughout the state. One of these locations, Glick Technology Center at Ivy Tech Community College, is less than 3 miles away from the IUPUI campus. If you have a state or federal government issued photo ID, poll workers will provide you the necessary paperwork to cast a ballot on site. Without showing your ID, you can also mail in an absentee ballot using the form listed on this page. If you don’t plan to vote early, you can find your election day polling location and check your voter registration status at indianavoters.in.gov or vote.org. For voters who need transportation, Uber and Lyft are offering free or discounted rides to the polls on election day.

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How?


If you are voting in person on election day, be sure to bring a government issued photo ID, such as a driver’s license, and line up at your correct polling place. But what can you do if something goes wrong and you get rejected at your polling place? The Indianapolis Star reports that there are several fail-safes in place to allow you to still vote if something comes up. For instance, if your name doesn’t appear on the poll list, you can sign a written statement affirming you live at the same address or you can swear to that in front of an inspector or a judge on site. Or if you changed your name, you can sign the poll book, or an affidavit provided on site, with your new name. If you still have problems voting despite all of that, you can still vote by requesting and casting a provisional ballot.  

If you don’t know the candidates that will be appearing on your ballot, you can check indianavoters.in.gov. And if you want to know where the candidates stand on the issues, you can use this guide from the Campus Citizen about the U.S. Senate race, as well as NUVO’s guides with responses from the Senate candidates and those contesting the elections for Indiana’s 9th Congressional District, Marion County Recorder, Marion County Prosecutor, Indiana’s 98th House District, among others. For the nonpartisan judicial retention elections, you can view the biography and records of the judges on the ballot here.

Conclusion

Voters in Indiana have sometimes faced an uphill battle in participating in this year’s elections. 481,235 registered Indiana voters were purged from the voter rolls last year by Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson, and the voter registration website had a glitch that slowed down absentee voting. After years of Republican officials reducing early voting locations in Marion County since 2008, a federal judge ruled that this was a violation of equal ballot protections and ordered the county to open more. Despite all of these challenges, millions of Hoosiers are expected to vote this election season. And armed with your own plan of when, where, and how to vote, you can join them in casting your ballot.

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