Image credits: Jon Scheiber, license CC-BY-NC-SA
Are you ready to vote in the May Primary Election? Has your polling place changed? Has your voting district changed? Not sure? We had the same questions and we’ve outlined four easy steps that can get you ready for the upcoming primaries.
At last nights Southwest Citizens Advisory Council (SWCAC) meeting, Brent Laurenz from the NC Center for Voter Education spoke to our group about the voting changes caused by redistricting. The NC Center for Voter Education is a nonpartisan, non-profit organization that helps voters like you, make the most of your vote. They provide an NC Voter Guide for each election. See ncvoterguide.org.
Laurenz gave a brief overview on redistricting to those in attendance. Basically, redistricting is the process of redrawing electoral boundaries. Each decade, after the census data is released, population densities change in urban and rural areas. In North Carolina, many of the urban areas saw more growth and some rural areas saw some decline. Raleigh saw a growth of 46% in population. Because of these population changes, our electoral boundaries are updated to reflect changes in population density to balance out representation.
We asked Laurenz to attend the SWCAC to help prepare voters in our area for the upcoming May 8th primary election. You’ll want to make sure you’re registered to vote and you know where to vote. Laurenz mentioned that with redistricting, your current representatives running for re-election may be in another district. Here’s what you can do to prepare for election day:
4 Steps to Prepare for Voting this May
- Register to vote [PDF] or check to see if you’re registered
- Find your polling place
- Preview your sample ballot
- Optional, find out where and how to vote early
One of the best online resources is www.wakegov.com/elections. You can pretty much find everything you’ll need to get prepared.
Don’t be surprised come election day. Do your homework. Know where to vote if you didn’t vote early. Check your sample ballot and make sure that when you vote on May 8th, things look familiar to you. Come May 8th, you can cast your ballot and get your “I voted” sticker and most importantly, make change happen with your vote.