Whether you are a first-time voter, or an experienced poll worker, the ABA Election Center has tools and information available to help you get ready for this election cycle.
Do you need to know your state’s voting deadlines? Do you have a student going to school away from home in need of absentee or early voting ballots? Do you need to find your nearest polling location or check your registration status?
The ABA Governmental Affairs Office (GAO) has created a digital tool to help you find answers to these questions and more called the ABA Election Center. Here, ABA members and their networks can find everything they need to get ready for the upcoming presidential election, including the ability to check their registration status and register to vote. There is also state-by-state information on early and absentee voting, voter accessibility and voting laws, key election dates, and more.
In the Election Center, you can also find resources created by the National Journal, including non-partisan presidential candidate profiles and summaries of their positions on major issues being discussed this election season.
While registering to vote is extremely important, the Election Center also provides information on how interested people can register to work the polls in their state. For legal professionals, being a poll worker or poll watcher allows you to help contribute to the election process in your district. Given that the rules are different for each state, the Election Center identifies the requirements so you can determine if you are eligible to volunteer. The purpose of working the election booths is to help ensure the sanctity of the voting process in your state. This online tool also provides resources on “knowing your voting rights” and state accessibility laws, so as legal professionals, we can help educate people and make sure that those eligible voters who want to vote can cast their ballot in both the primaries and general election.
To showcase this new tool for ABA members, the Election Center had its own booth during the ABA Midyear Meeting in Austin across from the registration desk. There, ABA members posted notes saying why voting was important to them, saw a presentation by a Travis County Board of Elections official, explored the ABA’s election resources, both online and in print, and more. Members told us they were especially looking forward to sharing the Election Center with their networks, especially for people they know who have recently moved and their younger family members who have either never voted before or are away at college.
To visit the Election Center, head to ambar.org/electioncenter. The website is constantly being updated with new information, so stay tuned! For the most up-to-date information, follow us on Twitter @ABAGrassroots.
To learn more about the ABA’s efforts to help people Vote Their Voice, visit the Standing Committee on Election Law's website.