To mark National Voter Education Week, The Fulcrum is kicking off a series of articles to help people navigate the shifting laws that govern elections.
With the midterm primary season concluded, all eyes have shifted to the upcoming general election. While Nov. 8 is Election Day, in reality voting begins earlier in many states and there’s some work to be done in order to make sure your ballot counts. That’s because every state has been tweaking its election laws over the past few years, with some making it easier to vote and others putting new restrictions in place.
To help you navigate the new rules, The Fulcrum has compiled an overview of typical steps to take as voters get ready for Election Day. Rules and regulations may vary from state to state, and we will get into those details in future articles.
This may seem obvious, but the first step in getting prepped to vote would be registering to vote (or double-checking your registration status). Although National Voters Registration Day was Sept. 20, individuals can still register online and in person, depending on where they live. After registering, it's best to check the status of your registration.
When checking their registration status, voters can also review where they are registered, check their party preference, and determine the status of their vote-by-mail or provisional ballot. This becomes a useful tool with long gaps between election dates and people experiencing lifecycle events.
The next step would be to figure out where and how you will be voting – whether at a polling place on Election Day, through in-person early voting, or by submitting an absentee ballot (depending on your state’s rules). Picking a voting method early takes some of the stress off of the process.
Most states will allow in-person early voting during a designated period, but, again, it varies from state to state. Additionally, some states may require voters to submit an absentee ballot to be eligible for early voting. This information is easily accessible on the state or local office website.
Like early voting, absentee voting (or voting by mail) provides more flexibility to those who are unable to physically vote at their local polling place. This demographic includes college students studying out of their home states, those dealing with injury, illness or disabilities, military personnel deployed out of state, or individuals who are traveling or on a business trip. States set strict deadlines for absentee voting, both to request and to return a ballot.
Remember that in many jurisdictions, it’s not just candidates on the ballot. Voters need to study up on both the people seeking office and the state and local initiatives that can impact government spending, services and even democracy itself. Mis- and disinformation run rampant in election season, so be sure to check your sources.
Future articles will go into great detail on these and other steps in the voting process.
U.S. President Donald Trump boards Air Force One on August 14, 2026 at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. Trump is traveling to Long Island to tour law enforcement facilities in Nassau County and rally support for local Republican candidates ahead of the upcoming midterm elections
Travel Far Enough, You Meet Yourself
Is it possible that our President has simply not traveled enough?
Born and raised in Queens and attending Fordham University in the Bronx, Donald Trump has no record of traveling outside New York until he was over 20, when he transferred to a college in the neighboring state of Pennsylvania. Were his formative years amiss, then, in his learning about other places and other people?
Is his view akin to the famous New Yorker cover by Saul Steinberg, an illustration of the United States with New York City as the epicenter of the country and the Hudson River the border of the known world? We can now at least add Washington, D.C., and Mar-a-Lago to the map of “the realm.”
Our President has now traveled some, but what we recommend is another kind of travel. Not a state-sponsored trip or a venture to scout locations for future Trump Towers. This would be a genuine travel experience, enriching and eye-opening, showcasing other cultures and ways of living.
It will extend far beyond viewing military parades, hobnobbing with such “understanding” world leaders as Kim Jong Un, or taking tea with the King.
WHERE, then, should the President go? As Elon Musk’s Starship spacecraft is not yet ready to take passengers to Mars, perhaps he could explore our own vast country?
Maybe he could travel to “flyover country,” the farming states, where his ying-yanging tariffs and trade restrictions have played havoc with rural economies. Or possibly to California, number one in homeless U. S. citizens, and while there, regale homeless veterans (approximately 32,500 nationwide) with tales of his brave exploits invading and bombing foreign countries.
Or he might tour the Great Lakes, and rename the other four?
WHEN should he go? This will be tough, as he is very busy building his ballroom and renaming bodies of water.
How about a trip in early November, around the midterm elections? Despite the long-discredited accusation of widespread voter fraud, it would be reassuring to know he might be so caught up divvying out ladles of soup in a soup kitchen somewhere that he wouldn’t remember to deploy the military for “election security.”
HOW will he travel? He should definitely not take his Qatari-donated, newly renovated 747, especially after last time, when he had to be smuggled off clandestinely in a catering truck. It’s unlikely any traveling companions, like the Secretary of State or of the Treasury, are going to fall for the ruse a second time. Besides, we may need those people. No more decoys!
Perhaps the President could fly commercially, although this likely would expose him to undue suffering. Without gold bathroom fixtures and maple wood floors, the trip will be no “Luxury Experience.” If only he still had his “Trump Shuttle,” bought with a massive loan he later defaulted on, saying then, “I’m smart. I got out at a good time.”
Considering the potential pitfalls, maybe it’s best the President travel incognito, disguised perhaps as an elderly woman wearing a lot of bronzer.
Wherever, whenever, however: our President needs a vacation.
Moreover, we need a vacation from him.
If the President refuses our travel suggestions, here’s another idea:
Let’s get him a pet! He has never owned a pet. As we know with our children, pets teach essential life lessons: compassion and empathy; they instill a sense of responsibility. There is a well-established connection between those who can care for a pet and those who can care for people.
So, which pet should we choose? A puppy? A kitten? A boa constrictor?
Imagine, the President may even decide he likes having a pet. After all, what is more obedient than a well-trained dog, besides possibly the Cabinet? And what is more docile than a sweet kitten, other than plausibly the Supreme Court?
The President may even become more mellow with a pet afoot and less likely to slap tariffs on our allies, or attempt to annex our neighbors, or bully our Congress. (Realizing, of course, a bully requires active participation from the bullied to maintain his status.)
Maybe we should do both: get the President a pet and devise a travel plan for him. (Do you think we could possibly convince him to leave his phone at home?)
Let’s go for it! After all:
Travel far enough, you meet yourself. (David Mitchell)
And for our President, that would likely be the most profound discovery of all.
Amy Lockard is an Iowa resident who regularly contributes to regional newspapers and periodicals. She is working on the second of a four-book fictional series based on Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice."