Civics 101: How to vote

 Trying to figure out how to request an absentee ballot can be tricky, especially at college and out of your home state. Voting is vital to influencing how the country is run and is one of the easiest ways to voice your opinion about the ideology you want to live under. To keep up with the increasingly internet-centered lives of Americans, Democracy Works emerged as an initiative to lower barriers to voting, such as a lack of absentee ballots, confusion over polling place, and complicated registration. According to their website, in 2012, 60% of Americans who did not vote were hindered by these very problems. For Brown students, not being at home can mean missing information about deadlines to register to vote or to request absentee ballots.Democracy Works created TurboVote, a website that enables eligible voters to register to vote, request an online ballot, and receive information about election dates in your district all in one place! The website prompts you for your name and address and then gives you the forms needed for your district to either register to vote or request a ballot (which takes all of thirty five seconds to fill out). It also sends you updates about elections in your area and allows you to update your address if needed. Rock the Vote, a non-partisan group created to encourage young people to vote, lists the deadlines for registering and for mailing absentee ballots for all 50 states and U.S. territories.Regardless of party affiliation or interest in politics, being an active participant in the democratic system is both a privilege and a responsibility. While there are exceptionally tense views about who to vote for president, don’t let not voting be an option. There are many local and state level elections that matter just as much, if not more, than the presidency. To get information about state and local elections, Ballotpedia serves as a database of past and current elections and generates a sample ballot for your district. The website also has a Wikipedia-like page for everyone running, making it easy to get informed about your options for 2016. With the accessibility of information instantly and the ease of requesting ballots and registration forms online, there shouldn't be a reason to not let your voice be heard come November 8.