How Do I ...
-
Register to Vote?
Rock The Vote features an online voter registration application for all 50 states plus the District of Columbia. Select your state from the drop-down, and the application provides specifics requirements about registering in your state. Affirm that you are legally entitled to vote (at least 18 years of age and a citizen) and step through the application. You may be required to print, sign and mail a form.
Conversely, download this 33-page DF from the Federal Elections Commission. Read the specifics about your state, then complete and mail the form.
-
Register to Vote Absentee?
Some states will let you use the National Voter Registration Form (33-page PDF) to permanently register absentee. If you become a permanent absentee voter, you will receive your ballot well in advance of the election. You ballot will not be subject to hanging chads or lost electrons.
-
Decide if an Opinion Poll is Valid?
It seems that are as many political polls as there political stories and web sites. But are they equally valid? And how can they project the votes of an entire nation by talking to only a thousand or so people? Read this article from your Politics Guide for answers.
-
Understand How a Bill Becomes Law?
Project VoteSmart has published a one-page primer that answers this question. Congressman Chaka Fattah (D-PA) has written a case study that follows the The 21st Century Scholars Act as it made its way from concept to law. For a detailed examination of the process, use the Library of Congress tutorial.
-
Write a Letter to the Editor
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) includes these tips in its guide: Before writing, read the letters in your local paper to see if a certain type of letter is printed, and remember to be brief. And, as Rainforest Action notes, the paper is more likely to print a letter written in response to one of its articles.
