Every vote matters. In 2017, a Virginia House of Delegates race ended in a tie. They chose the winner by pulling a name out of a bowl. In 2016, two different states had three local elections decided by exactly one vote. A third state had a local election decided by 2 votes. In 2008, a U.S. Senate race was decided by just 312 votes out of nearly 3 million votes cast. Your vote matters.

Are you interested in your paycheck? What’s happening at your schools? The conditions of your streets? You and your family’s safety? The cost of public services? The right to choose? The right to marry who you love? Your right to bear arms? How to responsibly bear arms? We’re voting on A LOT of things that affect your day to day life, and we’re choosing people that we feel will most likely fight for the things that are important to us.

Then the ads are working. Attack ads are designed for you to not like the opposing candidate. Often this leaves people not liking either candidate. You will rarely find a candidate you 100% agree with. Sometimes you will have to figure out which candidate is simply not as bad as the other. While you may not like either candidate, try to find out which candidate is more likely to fight for more of the things that are important to you. Your vote is not an endorsement, it’s a preference, however slight that may be.

Visit vote.org to register to vote, find out the deadlines, check your registration status, and find your polling place and dates. You can also visit our voter toolkit page if you live in Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, Tennessee, or Virginia. You can also visit https://nationalvoterregistrationday.org/ to find out how to host a registration drive at your church or other community center.

Vote by Mail: https://www.vote.org/absentee-ballot/

Find early voting in your area: https://www.vote.org/early-voting-calendar/