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Stories from the NFCCA Newsletter, the “Northwood News” |
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Stories from the NFCCA Newsletter, the “Northwood News” |
You must be registered to vote in the 2020 Presidential Election. The deadline to register to vote or to update your voter registration information (for example, changing your name or address or changing your political party affiliation), is Tuesday, 13 October 2020. You can register to vote, find out if you are registered to vote, or make changes to your voter registration information online at elections.maryland.gov.
After October 13th, you can register to vote or update your current voter registration information in person during early voting or on Election Day by showing the election judge a Maryland driver’s license or state identification card with your current address. If you do not have these documents or they do not show your current address, then you can register by showing the election judge a pay statement, bank or credit card statement, utility bill, or other official document with your name and new address. For more information, go online or call the Montgomery County Board of Elections at 240.777.8550.
There are two ways to vote in the 2020 Presidential Election — by mail or in person (either early or on Election Day).
FYI, “absentee ballots” and “mail-in ballots” are the same. You do not need a reason to vote absentee or by mail. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Maryland election officials are encouraging people to vote by mail.
Every registered voter should have received an application for a mail-in ballot through the United States mail, but ballots will not be automatically mailed to voters for the 2020 Presidential Election. If you did not receive a mail-in ballot application, or you do not want to wait for the mailed application, then you can request a mail-in ballot online at elections.maryland.gov, click on “request a mail-in ballot for November 3rd,” and follow the instructions to print out a ballot application. The completed ballot application is then mailed to the Montgomery County Board of Elections, PO Box 10159, Rockville, MD 20849-0159.
Election officials recommend that voters mail their request to receive the ballot, rather than by the Internet, because it is a more complicated process once the completed ballot is returned to the Montgomery County Board of Elections.
After you receive and complete the actual mail-in ballot, you have several options to return the completed ballot. You can:
If you choose to vote in person, then you can vote at any of 11 Early Voting Centers that will be open from 26 October to 2 November from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. The Early Voting Centers closest to the NFCCA area are located at the Wheaton Library/Community Recreation Center and the Silver Spring Civic Building. (Drop boxes to return completed ballots also will be available at Early Voting Centers.)
Voters also can vote in person on Election Day, 3 November 2020, from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., at any Election Day Voting Center in Montgomery County. Election Day Voting Centers will be located at every public high school — including Northwood and Blair — and at each of the Early Voting Centers. Voting will not take place by precinct and Forest Knolls Elementary School will not be open for voting in the 2020 Presidential Election.
COVID-19 restrictions will be enforced. If you plan to vote in person, you must wear a mask. Voters must always remain six feet apart. There will be a limit on the number of people who can access a polling place at one time.
Join your neighbors at NFCCA’s October 14th Zoom Meeting for more information on voting. David Naimon with the Montgomery County Board of Elections will be the featured speaker at NFCCA’s 14 October 2020, 7:30 p.m., meeting to be held via Zoom to answer your questions about voting in the 2020 Presidential Election. ■
© 2020 NFCCA [Source: https://nfcca.org/news/nn202010g.html]