Authorities say: get out and vote

With the November elections less than two months away, many agencies and organizations are making an effort to spur U.S. citizens to get out and vote.

The North Dakota Association of Counties is attempting to help voters understand the widely-varying processes of casting a ballot and how to register if required before the elections.

Help America Vote Act (HAVA) Coordinator Danette Odenback said that there are some simple ways to make sense of a sometimes complicated election process.

Voting on campus

The 2004 elections led to complaints of long wait times to vote at the polling site on campus. Odenback said that there have been changes since then that should help to alleviate the situation as much as possible.

Part of the problem in 2004, she said, was that it was Tax and Finance Director Debbie Nelson's first time managing an election. Even though things went smoothly for the most part, she did take some lessons from the issues that did arise.

"She was so disappointed that things turned out that way so she's done a lot of things to change that situation," Odenback said.

The polling site on campus this time around will have more than one poll book station, where people need to register before being given a ballot. This should speed the check-in process considerably.

Despite this and some other changes, she said that it's sometimes hard for people to realize the amount of work that really goes into planning an election.

"A lot of people think elections are just putting together a ballot and giving people a ballot and that's it," she said.

Absentee voting is one way that people can avoid potentially long lines at polling sites on Nov. 4, and the process is pretty easy in North Dakota since voters don't need a reason to file by absentee in the state.

People that opt for this method can print off an application for absentee voting at the Secretary of State's website or pick up an application in person. Once it is processed, a ballot is mailed to the voter that can be returned anytime before the election.

Odenback said that although this method is easy and sometimes more convenient than the traditional voting process, it is important for people to pay attention to the deadline for returning the ballot in order to be counted in the election.

In North Dakota, that deadline is Nov. 3.

There will also be early voting in each county that will allow people to cast their ballots up to two weeks before the actual election. The voting process will be the same as it would be on the election day, but the totals will not be added until Nov. 4.

Details of when early voting will be available are not yet finalized.

Voting requirements

For students not originally from Grand Forks, the requirements to be a state voter are simple: the person needs to live in the precinct where they're planning to vote for at least 30 days, be over 18 years old and they also need to be a U.S. resident.

North Dakota is the only state that does not require voter registration, but there are some documents that still may be required at the polling site.

The state does not require identification to vote, but it is highly recommended to bring a license with a current Grand Forks address. People can also bring a bill from UND or a change of address verification form from the post office in order to prove their current residency address.

College IDs are allowed as identification as well.

Odenback said that poll workers have the right to not accept a voter's documentation of address. In cases like that the person just needs to fill out an affidavit verifying that they live there.

"Every single affidavit that gets signed has to be followed up by law," she said. "If they do find any discrepancies, the State Attorney's office takes it over for possible clarification."

Making a choice

Many UND students are officially still residents of their parents' house even though they live in Grand Forks most of the year. Odenback said that students should carefully consider where they will vote if they are in this situation.

"They need to decide where they call home," she said. "There's a lot of impact that students have on local issues."

When students from another city vote in Grand Forks, they have an impact on sales tax, city council members, zoning laws, and many other policies that affect the community for years. Odenback said it's important to make an informed choice on where to vote.

"It's very much a personal decision, but it has really a distinct impact locally, so much more than I think a lot of people realize," she said. "People need to make those decisions in advance, otherwise they by default become North Dakota voters."

Students planning to vote anywhere outside of North Dakota will need to check their state's policies on voter registration and absentee ballots in order to be counted in the election.

More details on voting policies can be found by visiting the National Association of Secretaries of State's website at http://www.nass.org for a link to home jurisdiction information.

North Dakota voters can visit http://www.nd.gov/sos for precinct maps and applications for absentee ballots. The tool for locating the correct polling site will not be available until Oct. 1.