any registered voter may vote as an absentee.
a person must be registered to vote in order to cast an absentee ballot
here is a great site for get everything you’ll need in just a few minutes.
i can think of two compelling reasons to vote as an absentee:
One:
this article suggests that ‘racial misgivings’ in the minds of otherwise democratic white voters may cause them to either not vote at all, or to vote for McCain because he isn’t black. this is extremely discouraging.
i wonder if the atmosphere of the polling site and voting booth, the environmental psychology of those spaces, if you will, won’t encourage the expression of such misgivings in the form of a vote based on them.
I’m imagining that in the isolation of the booth, within the unfamiliarity of the polling site, some may become a bit anxious. a vote cast at that moment, in those strange surroundings, may be more a reflection of that specific moment than a well considered gesture made with a clear mind for a better future.
perhaps, in the quiet of your home, you might be able to take a bit more time to think, and allow your choice to be a reflection of who you think is really the better candidate, and to acknowledge that a vote based on inner, hidden fears, biases, and stereotypes is essentially a vote for the continuation of hidden fears, biases, and stereotypes.
an absentee ballot may be the thing for you.
Two:
if you’d like to vote but know deep down that the prospect of leaving your apartment, going off-campus, waiting on a line, etc., are things that you won’t be able to get past, yet you feel this election is something you’d like to participate in, PLEASE consider an absentee vote. it is easy, and you can do it, basically, from your sofa.
a few things:
it seems most absentee ballot requests need to be received by mid-october.
a person must be registered to vote in order to cast an absentee ballot
here’s information for maryland: http://www.elections.state.md.us/voting/absentee.html,
submit the phrase: absentee voting