Election Day is November 2. Do you know where your ballot box is? Because we love helping people exercise their right to participate in democracy, we thought we’d compile a short list of some resources to help you get your vote on in Tuesday’s midterm elections.
“Where do I vote?” It’s our most frequently asked question around the library on Election Day – well that and “Where’s the bathroom?” and of course, the perennial, “Do you have S*** My Dad Says?” but we digress. (Answers: “Over there,” and “Yes [3].”)
There are numerous ways to find your local polling place. You can look up your voting information online at the Missouri Voting Rights Center [4], or if you live across the state line, hit the Kansas Secretary of State [5]’s site. KCMO residents can check their registration status, view their list of elected officials, and download a complete sample ballot (PDF) [6] at the KC Board of Election Commissioners [7] site. Those outside of KCMO can search county Board of Elections offices: Clay [8], Platte [9], Jackson [10], Cass [11] on the Missouri side; Johnson [12], Wyandotte [13] in Kansas.
None of this will do you any good, however, if your voter registration is not current as of October 6 (Missouri) or October 18 (Kansas). In which case, there'll be no “I Voted” sticker for you this time around.
Interesting fact #1: The Missouri Secretary of State’s office estimates that 51 percent [14] of the state’s 4,137,545 registered voters will cast ballots on Tuesday. Does that number seem high or low? Discuss [15].
Need to brush up on who’s running? The Kansas City Star’s Midwest Democracy Project [16] site is loaded with info about many aspects of the election, including a comprehensive candidate search [17], online polls about issues [18] of interest in this election, and facts about how our politicians have voted [19] while in office. And if you know your candidates inside and out – right down to what kind of pie they prefer – you can take the quiz of candidate quirks [20].
Other resources: On the Issues [21] gives nonpartisan information about “Every Political Leader on Every Issue.” Vote411 [22] also boasts impartiality and has an online voters’ guide [22] to help you build a ballot based on issues. “The Voter’s Self-Defense System,” Vote Smart [23] has a snappy interactive app [24] to help you find candidates who share your views.
Interesting fact #2: Though the phrase “vote early and vote often” is associated with corrupt, early-mid-20th-century political bosses such as Chicago’s Richard Daley and Kansas City’s Tom Pendergast, the old voting fraud joke is likely older. According to Safire’s Political Dictionary [25] by William Safire, the phrase originated in 1848 [26].
Now that you know where to vote and have access to some information that will help you make an informed decision, why not take a minute to participate in this informal (and totally non-serious) poll?
-- Jason Harper [28]