October 31, 2024
What are your voting rights when you go to the polls to vote early or vote on election day?
There are state election laws and federal election laws that apply to voters. I’m going to focus on the federal laws but you should obviously check into your state laws as well because those are also very important. I’m also going to give you a two phone numbers to call at the end of this video if you see or are the victim of voter rights violations.
First – given the polarized political environment we’re dealing with right now you have the right to vote without being intimidated by others. It is a federal crime to intimidate, threaten or coerce any person for the purpose of interfering with a person’s right to vote.
You cannot threaten a voter with physical or financial harm if they don’t vote a certain way.
You cannot prevent qualified voters from voting by lying about time, date or place of an election.
And in some states it is illegal to wear apparel with political slogans or logos in voting locations.
It’s also a federal crime to intimidate or threaten a poll worker. Do *not* do that. Those people are doing their job.
Now that that’s cleared up what are your other rights??
Obviously you have to be registered to vote – some states do allow you to register and vote on election day – but most states have a registration deadline. And that may have passed in your state – that’s up to you to figure out.
If you’re voting on election day you need to make sure you’re voting in the correct precinct where you’re assigned unless your state has a vote center where all registered voters are allowed to cast a ballot.
What should you bring to vote? Every state has different rules but most require you to show some form of identification before being allowed to vote. That may be an ID but may also be some form of documentation that proves you live in that county or district. You may also want to bring your sample ballot with you so you can preplan how you want to vote on the issues.
When you show up to the polling place depending on the time of day– it may be busy so you’ll have to wait in line. Make sure you give yourself plenty of time because those lines could be long. But generally if you’re in line and the polls close, stay in line you do have the right to vote.
Now if you show up to a precinct and the poll worker says you’re not assigned to that location you’ve got two options. One – you can leave that polling location and drive over to the correct precinct and cast your ballot or two – you can stay in that current precinct and vote but you’ll have to ask for a provisional ballot. And if you show up to the correct precinct and you know you’ve registered but for some reason your name does not appear in their voting book you can also ask for provisional ballot.
By federal law all polling locations have to be fully accessible to older adults, those with disabilities, and federal law says those who have difficulty reading or writing in English may receive in person assistance at the polls from a person of their choosing that person can be a family member, a friend or a poll worker. It cannot be an employer or an agent of an employer.
If you witness or are the victim of some kind of federal voting rights, you can call the FBI or the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights division they will be out in full force on election day. To report federal crimes like threats to voters or poll workers or possible fraud call the FBI at 800-call-fbi. And to report civil rights violations, you can call the justice department at 800 253 3931.
More about your rights here.
More from the Justice Department here.
