Election Day: What You Need to Know

ABC NEWS– It is Election Day. Polls in South Carolina are open from 7am-7pm.

 Know Where to Go

The first and most obvious step is finding the right polling place for your area, based on your home address. If you end up at the wrong precinct, you could be turned away or asked to file a provisional ballot. Find your location by checking www.canIvote.org, which will take you to your state’s election administration Web site.

Got ID?

In 26 states, voters will now be asked to show some form of identification before casting their ballot. The two strictest states, Florida and Indiana, require government-issued photo ID. Twenty-four others will accept non-photo ID, documents that include Social Security cards, utility bills or a hunting license.

Voter identification requirements have been a hot topic and the subject of lawsuits in Georgia, Ohio, Arizona, New Mexico, Indiana and elsewhere. Republicans and activists say such rules are needed to prevent fraud. Democrats and activists on the other side of the debate argue that requiring identification disenfranchises poor, minority and elderly voters who might not have a driver’s license or state-issued ID.

To find out whether you’ll need identification to vote and what your precinct will accept, check out the state-by-state chart at electionline.org

Don’t have the right ID on Election Day? Ask poll workers if you can vote by filing a provisional ballot. Many precincts around the country will let you vote that way and will count your vote as soon as they verify that it was cast in the right place.

Do a Practice Run

If you’re one of the many Americans voting on an electronic machine for the first time, remember that there are ways to get familiar with new voting technologies before and when you get to the polls.

Some polling places have demo machines you can use to practice before you pull that lever or touch that screen for real. As for online resources, you can watch an instructional video or actually click through the series of screens you’ll see on Election Day.

Check your state election authority Web site (which you can get to through www.canIvote.org) for streaming video or demo opportunities.