Tuesday BP, 11/6/18

You guys know what today is. It’s Election Day in America! You’ve been hounded by commercials on TV, on the radio and in your mailbox. If you’re lucky enough to live in an area with a competitive race, you’ve received an overwhelming amount of phone calls, text messages and visitors at your house. And everyone and their mother is reminding you to vote today, as if you didn’t already know. I get it!

Well, today’s the day when all of that stops! But, we do need you to vote first. I’m not here to tell you who or what to vote for. That’s between you and your voting booth. But I am asking you to take the time to go to the polls if you haven’t already voted early or by mail.

To help you do so, I’m going to give you all the information you could possibly need to know about voting today! And if I didn’t cover it here, feel free to ask in the comments.

• First, and most importantly, check to see if you are registered. Even if you are 100% certain you are, double check. Weird things happen and it’s best to get that out of the way first.
• Not registered? If you live in any of these states, you can still do so today!

• Not sure if you need your ID? Per KQED, “Generally, you don’t need to show your ID when voting. But, if you’re a first-time voter that registered by mail and didn’t provide your driver license number, California identification number or the last four digits of your social security number on your registration form, there’s a chance they might ask for your ID.”
• Not sure where to vote? It’s as easy as asking Google to find your polling place!
• Not sure what’s on your ballot? You can do a practice run here and fill out your choices. Then you can either print it out or email it to yourself and take it with you when you go to vote!
• Need time off from work to vote? California law allows you two paid hours off to vote if you cannot do so outside of your normal business hours.
• Need a ride to the polls? Reach out to your local political party chapter and see if they have a ride program going on. Most do! You can check out this program as well, if you need a ride or want to give rides. You can also look into Uber & Lyft’s ride programs.
• Not sure when to vote? In California, the polls open at 7:00 am and remain open until 8:00 pm, but stay in line even if it is getting close to or past closing time. You can vote as long as you were in line before 8:00 pm. If you have any issues, you can call 866-OUR-VOTE or text “Our Vote” to 97779.
• Did you get a mail-in ballot but haven’t mailed it back? Take it to your polling place or get it to the post office today! It still counts as long as it’s postmarked with today’s date.
• Lost your mail-in ballot? Go to your polling place and fill out a provisional ballot - it will be counted!

To quickly tie this into baseball, enjoy this video of former Giants minor leaguer Matt Paré evaluating his mail-in ballot like a You Tube personality opening a gift box:

Finally, the best cool fact about voting? YOU CAN BRING YOUR DOG! For real. So pack up the pups and head to the polls!

***As always, though I am encouraging you to vote with this post, please take conversations about election results or partisan opinions, etc. over to the Champagne Thread.***