by Merrill Stein

So many questions. Did I register? If I live in one state but go to school in another, where can I vote? Can I vote absentee? Who’s running for office in my state? What are the issues this year?

Begin at the beginning. Can you vote? Check Registering to Vote and Voting from USA.gov. This year’s slogan is “Get it Done Online, Not in Line.” Canivote.org is a nonpartisan web site created by state election officials to help eligible voters figure out how and where to vote. Careful, there are still one or two states that don’t allow registration by mail. Check with your state’s Secretary of State’s office or website for the voting requirements or your Student Government Association , campus Republicans or campus Democrats may have additional information. If you need an absentee ballot, check with the Federal Voting Assistance Program or check the Program’s state voting information.

Rock the Vote wants to help register you to vote and also build your political power. At declareyourself.com you can register to vote and volunteer in your community.

Don’t have everything you need yet? At vote411, you can find out about registering to vote, find voting information for your state, find your polling place and get more information about the candidates and ballot measures in your state. Use Project Vote Smart, the voter’s self-defense system, to make informed choices at the polls.

Interested in more information about voting and elections? Visit the Center for Voting and Democracy and the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, which includes data and data sets about youth voting. Still pondering? Don’t sell yourself short. Visit 10 Reasons Why Your Vote as a College Student Actually Matters.

At C-SPAN.org you can find out about local races, find a candidate, browse races by state, register to vote or download an interactive tool enabling visitors to a website to find the candidates for office in each state.

If you’re still with me, go test your knowledge of voting at the National Constitution Center’s Voting Rights Game. By the way, did you know that according to the archive at fairvote.org, “The U.S. is one of only 11 other democracies in the world with no affirmative right to vote enshrined in its constitution.” A bill was introduced, H.J.RES.28 (2009) proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States regarding the right to vote.

Form an opinion! Get engaged with the elections process. Look for election updates in this blog!