How To Vote In Six Easy Steps

     From registering to casting your ballot, becoming a voter is a process, but it doesn’t have to be difficult. By following a few basic steps listed below it can be accomplished with ease and on election day you will be privileged to strut around all day wearing an “I Voted!” sticker. 

STEP 1: REGISTER TO VOTE 
States and territories have unique requirements. Most states allow residents to register online, in person, or via a paper form, provided they are qualified to vote and meet the registration deadline. Check with you local election board if you have any questions. 
     The litmus test for whether you register as a Democrat or Republican is simple. If you hate President Trump, you’re a Democrat. If you like him, you're a Republican. If you have no strong feelings one way or the other or you can at least live with him as the duly elected President of the United States, you’re an Independent, but you will still have to register as a Democrat or Republican.
     It really doesn't matter much which party you register under because as the deceased, bigoted, racist governor of Alabama George C. Wallace used to say when he was campaigning for President, there's not a dime's worth of difference between any of them briefcase totin' bureaucrats in Washington anyway. 
STEP 2: RESEARCH POLITICAL PARTIES, CANDIDATES 
This step can be eliminated if you want to keep things simple. You just vote for all of you party’s candidates; it’s not even necessary to know where they stand on the issues. 
     If you want to be an informed voter and select candidates based on their platforms without relying on party propaganda or media coverage this step is the most difficult, but it can be accomplished without too much difficulty by simply researching Facebook memes and your friends’ shared alternative news stories. 
STEP 3: KNOW THE ISSUES 
Again, the easiest way to know the issues is by reading Facebook memes and your friends’ shared alternative news stories. 

Note regarding Steps 2 and 3: 
     If doing research on Facebook is not your thing, it is always possible to cast votes for candidates and issues by relying on you confirmation bias which simply says when people would like a certain idea or concept to be true, they end up believing it. 
     In a study by Anthony Bastardi, Eric Uhlmann, and Lee Ross published in the June, 2011 issue of Psychological Science they examined how people evaluated new evidence when what they believed to be true conflicted with what they wanted to be true. They found out many people ultimately come to believe that the weight of evidence supports the position that they already wanted to believe was true. 
STEP 4: CHECK STATE RULES & REGULATIONS 
Most voting stations are open at least 12 hours on election day. Although only 35 states currently require voters to show a photo ID, according to federal law, individuals who have not voted previously must bring a valid photo ID or a bill, pay stub, or government document showing their name and current address. Don’t be too concerned about this requirement. Nobody will verify that your ID is real and in some localities nobody even cares if you’re a legal voter, or even alive. 
STEP 5: FIND YOUR POLLING PLACE 
State election offices assign polling locations based on a voter’s address, so if you aren’t sure where to go to vote you can either contact the election office or use Get to the Polls to find out where to go. 
STEP 6: CAST YOUR BALLOT 
States now use electronic voting systems, either optical scanning or touch screens on election day. Voters may not have to vote for every office on the ballot and are also allowed a write-in if the candidate of their choosing is not on the official ballot. 
     This year's new Presidential Ballot will be much simpler to use than fiddling with all that electronic gadgetry and as an added bonus, it will allow all the losers in the primary elections a second chance.  Almost everybody deserves a second chance.