Look on the voting information you received from your local elections office to find the address of your polling place, or call your local election office. If you cannot reach your local elections office, you can check your polling place online at SmartVoter.org. While they are doing their best to keep this information updated, it is the official list at your elections office that determines your true polling place, so we recommend checking directly with your local government if possible.
Required items:
Know if photo ID is required, and what types of ID are acceptable in your state.
Recommended items in case of problems:
--Written documentation of your voter registration, including address of your polling place.
--The phone number of your local election office.
--A video camera or video phon
--A cell phone.
Bring a family member or neighbor (or several)
-planning to vote together will help ensure that everyone makes it to the polls
-voting in a group also provides witnesses should anything go wrong.
--Ask to vote on a paper ballot, if your polling place has paper ballots.
We recommend that you vote on election day and at your assigned polling place if possible. However, if voting absentee is the only option you have for voting on a paper ballot, please obtain an absentee ballot if you can.
--If you vote on an absentee ballot, it is best to deliver it in person rather than by mail. Look at the instructions that come with the ballot to determine your options for delivering the ballot.
--If you are told that you must vote on a provisional ballot and you believe this is incorrect, call the election protection hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE. It is best to vote on a regular ballot. However, if voting on a provisional ballot is your only option, please do vote! See further instructions below about voting on provisional ballots.
--Do not vote "straight party ticket" by using just one button or one bubble. In many states the machines are programmed to NOT REGISTER A VOTE FOR PRESIDENT! Even if you plan to cast all your votes for candidates in one party, mark your selection for each race separately. More info.
In general, problems should first be addressed by talking with the pollworkers. If further action is needed, options include calling your local election office and/or the Election Protection Hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE. Election protection monitors and attorneys will be stationed outside many polling places to be available for voters who encounter problems.
Demand they be taken out of service (record serial number of machine if possible). If you have a video camera, videotape the response of the pollworker. At the very least, write down their response if they will not take the machine from service, and take down a few names of others present as witnesses.
Demand they be taken out of service (record serial number of machine if possible) The polling place is now a crime scene. The voting machines should be 'quarantined,' and law enforcement summoned. Problems voting? Call the election protection hotline 1-866-OUR-VOTE or enter your problem report online at VoterStory.org.
Call your local elections office. If you cannot reach them or the problem does not get resolved this way, call the election protection hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE.
Call your local elections office. If you cannot reach them or the problem does not get resolved this way, call the election protection hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE.
If you are able to come back later, please do so. If you are able to travel to your county election office, you may be able to vote there, but it's important to call first to check. Either way, call your local elections office. If you cannot reach them or the problem does not get resolved this way, call the election protection hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE.
If you have a video camera, take video. Call the election protection hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE. You might also call local news stations. Talk with voters who are leaving. Give them the phone number of the election protection hotline and ask them to call to report their complaints. If you are able to stay to assist, please do so. What will be needed will vary in each situation.
If you are in line by the time the official poll closing time, the polling place is legally required to stay open until you vote. At the time the polls close, a pollworker should come to the end of the line to determine which voters have already arrived and must be allowed to vote.
Look on the voting materials you have brought with you to see if there is a precinct number, then try to determine which line is for which precinct.If you need to walk to the front of the line to determine what line to be in, do so; then go back to the end of the correct line. If you still cannot tell, try to ask a pollworker, call your local election office, or call the election protection hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE. your polling place or provided voting technology is not accessible to you?
Although the Help America Vote Act requires all polling places to have some accessible equipment, this equipment is not accessible to voters with all disabilities and combinations of disabilities. Additionally, the equipment may break down. Polling places themselves can be made inaccessible by construction or other unforeseen changes. You have the right to have assistance, either from someone you bring with you or from a pollworker. This should be your choice. A pollworker who helps you is required to give you the help you need without attempting to influence your choices. If you do not get the help you need, including access to the polling place itself, call your local election office. If you still need more help, call the election protection hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE.
If you disagree, call your local elections office and/or the election protection hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE. If you and the pollworkers are unable to resolve the problem and you must vote provisionally, make sure you follow the directions carefully for filling out both the provisional ballot itself and the provisional ballot envelope. You will have to provide your name and other identifying information on the outside envelope. Election workers are required to use this information to verify your registration and determine whether or not your vote will be counted before opening the envelope. You may be given instructions about how to document your valid voter registration. Follow these instructions carefully, which may include going to the elections office immediately after the election to show your ID or provide other required information.
Check the official election materials that were mailed to you, if you have them with you. They should list your precinct number and polling place location. If you are at the wrong polling place, you can leave and go to the correct one, although you will need to stand in line again. If you are convinced you are at the right place but the pollworker says you are not, you can call your local election office for help. You may be required to vote on a provisional ballot.
Call the local office of the political party whose voters are being harassed, or call the election protection hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE.
Talk to the elections judge or pollworker in charge at your polling place, or call your local elections office. If you cannot reach them or the problem does not get resolved this way, call the election protection hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE.
Videotape (voting, counting, chain of custody) Check out the election day guidelines from
Video the Vote.
Problems voting? Call the election protection hotline 1-866-OUR-VOTE and, if you can, enter your problem report online at VoterStory.org.