Vote!

Whichever way this presidential election turns out, it will be an historical turning-point. We the people of the United States of America (USA) will decide history in 2012. If you are a citizen of the USA, your history-making, two-part task this year is to…
make sure you are registered
and
vote.
Except in North Dakota, where you just need to show up and vote.

Everywhere else, you need to be registered first. Already done, you say. I have my card – somewhere, you say. It ain't necessarily so.

You need to check your registration status. Especially if your party affiliation (including "None") doesn’t happen to coincide with that of your State's chief election official. You see, your State's chief election official is responsible for maintaining voter rolls and certifying them to the Federal Election Commission. Your chief election official may, in an excess of reporting zeal, have caused your name to be removed from those certified voter rolls, effectively making you unregistered. This is likely because, as we all know, voter fraud was a serious problem in prior elections. Especially in the 1930's. So these State officials in charge of assuring proper election practice (oddly, especially those who came into office on a Republican ticket) are being very careful to leave no suspicious voter registration unaffected. Oddly, still, these challenges result in people being summarily dropped from the voter rolls. Oddly, again, the persons dropped seem mostly to be registered Democrats and those with no party affiliation. Go figure.

Check your registration status. In some States, you must be registered long before the election, so you may not be able to vote if you don't check now. I am not trying to badmouth any political party, but in some places (notably, the USA), people have gotten to the polls only to find out their registration is no longer valid. At that point, they may find they can't vote. The fact that, historically, most of these people were registered as Democrats is probably just because most registered voters are Democrats. Anyway…

Don't let this happen to you. Embrace the hassle and return it if it happens to you. Use the following simple steps:

Step 1: Check now whether you are registered to vote (unless you live in North Dakota). Go ahead; I'll wait. To check online, search on "chief election official statename".

Note: If you are younger than 17½ years of age and not registered, you have to wait until you are 17½ to do this step. Then, you must wait until you're 18 to proceed with Step 6. (Pay more attention in Civics class, OK? If they don't teach civics in your State, check iCivics or some such.)

Additional Note: You may find that you have to be persistent in finding your voter record. For example, Colorado's Republican Secretary of State has a lovely website; however, clicking on the homepage link to "My Voter Information" or on "Verify/Update My Voter Information" in the Alphabetical Index yields a page that says "Requested Range Not Satisfiable." It must be a glitch. Oddly enough, only clicking on "Voter Registration" in the Alphabetical Index seemed to yield a page with a link for verifying your registration record. With all the money the Secretary of State just spent checking voter records, you think he'd have made the website easier to use for those of us who want to make sure we're still registered. Oh, wait…

Step 2: If you aren't registered, your name has been removed, or any of the information is incorrect, register or re-register. You can complete a mail-in form online at Rock the Vote or register with your chief election official. If you show up as a registered voter and all the information about you is correct, so far so good.

Step 3: Wait a week or so and check your registration again. If necessary, re-register, correct bad information, and/or repeat the correction/registration process. If everything was OK both times you checked, hop over to Step 5; otherwise go to Step 4.

Step 4: If you had to re-register you can mail or email a written complaint – depending on whom you trust – to the State's chief election official, your State Governor's office, your local newspaper, and/or your State ACLU affiliate. Or, of course, all of the above.

Step 5: If you vote by mail, make sure you have your voting packet by mid-October, and repeat Steps 1-4 as needed if you don't. If you vote at the polls, take with you to your polling place your proof of voter registration (or a valid, State-recognized ID, if you live in North Dakota and haven't voted at that polling place before).

Step 6: Vote.

Too much trouble? I know I haven't blogged in a long time (old age, backbone and spinal problems, car getting rear-ended, you don't even want to know), but surely you remember that my steps are simple, not easy.

You will make the difference in this election. If you vote, it will be the difference you helped choose.

If you think it doesn't matter who gets elected President of the USA, you must have been in a coma from 2003 to 2008, and I hope you are feeling better.