The Daily Parker

Politics, Weather, Photography, and the Dog

Better Know a Ballot

Talk-show host Stephen Colbert has set up a website called Better Know a Ballot where you can check on the voting requirements for your state. He's producing videos for each state (starting with North Carolina) to explain the rules.

That's the bright spot of joy for you today. Here are other...spots...of something:

OK, one more bit of good news: The Economist reported this week that the southern hemisphere had almost no flu cases this winter, because pandemic response measures work on influenza just as they work on Covid-19.

Comments (2) -

  • diane bauer

    9/23/2020 4:11:59 AM +00:00 |

    I would like to register to vote, however, even though I was born in Los Angeles, I came to Canada in 1989 to take care of my mother who had been in an accident and we sort of settled here in that 17 year period and found it difficult to go home again .  We have a  "base" here now and as people who have aged know, it is easier and less confusing  than leaving that space with the bank, doctor, dentist, podiatrist, library, shopping center with people who know your name, grocery store, hair dresser,  neurologist,  and the nursing home we finally moved into.  How can I register to vote?

  • The Daily Parker

    9/23/2020 1:23:58 PM +00:00 |

    Thank you for the comment.

    First, you must be a US citizen to vote in most American elections, though a number of municipalities around the country allow aliens to vote if they have lived in the jurisdiction for long enough.

    Second, most American jurisdictions have residency requirements for all voters. Illinois, for example, requires that you live in the state for 30 days before the election.

    However, you can still vote for president, and possibly for the US Senate and the US House. The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act allows all citizens to vote absentee for federal offices. Here's information from the Dept of Justice:
    www.justice.gov/.../uniformed-and-overseas-citizens-absentee-voting-act

    And here’s more information from the New York Times:
    www.nytimes.com/.../...-abroad-overseas-expat.html

    I hope this helps.

Comments are closed