No matter who you want to vote for in the upcoming election, the important part is voting. For some students the process to vote may seem unclear and out of reach. Here is important information and links to better inform you about the steps you need to do before you can vote on November 3rd, 2020!
VOTING DEADLINE 2020
The first step to voting is being aware of the deadlines. On this page I have included important dates to note if you are not already registered in Pennsylvania and plan to register here. If you are a Lehigh University student living on campus or in the local area, you can register at your campus address or local address to vote in Pennsylvania. Here are some dates to know if you plan to do this.
Oct 19: Pennsylvania voter registration deadline
Oct 27: Applications for voting by mail-in or absentee ballot in Pennsylvania RECEIVED by your county election office
Nov 3: GENERAL ELECTION
Here is also a link for registration deadlines for all 50 states in case you don’t plan to vote in Pennsylvania.
The campus vote project also has a really helpful FAQ page that answers some questions about different college student registration scenarios one may be in because of COVID-19.
REGISTER TO VOTE
PA registration: Registering in Pennsylvania to vote is easy because of the ability to fill out an online registration form.
Registration outside of PA: If you want to register at home or you aren’t going to college in Pennsylvania, check out USA.gov’s registration information page.
MAIL-IN BALLOTS AND ABSENTEE BALLOTS
In Pennsylvania you can now do a mail-in ballot instead of voting in person, a process that will make it easier for a lot of people because of the pandemic. Check out Votes PA’s site to learn more about the mail-in process.
For individuals not able to vote in person on election day, check out U.S. Vote Foundation’s site to request an absentee ballot. This site also can help with registering to vote as well!
I hope this information helps you better understand how to vote as a college student on or near your college’s campus. Make sure you remember the deadlines coming up and, as I said at the beginning, VOTE!!!!!