As Americans, exercising our right to vote in free and fair elections is an important responsibility and an essential act of civic engagement. In the COVID-19 era, strengthening our democracy with full voter participation demands more effort and careful attention. It means minimizing health risks, coping with inconsistent and confusing voting procedures, and pushing through uncertainty and inconvenience.

The University of Pennsylvania Office of Government and Community Affairs offers the following guidance to our campus community to support and encourage successful participation in the General Election on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. Email ogca@pobox.upenn.edu with any questions.

Get Smart: Voting is controlled by the states. Each state makes its own voting and election rules, including how and when to register. Check with your state’s Secretary of State or your local election office to get the most detailed and up-to-date information for where you live. Start here: https://vote.gov.

Be Alert To Changes: Dates, deadlines, forms, formats, locations, laws, methods and machines are all likely to have been recently modified.

Consider The Sources: Identify reliable sources for news and knowledge. Be ready to discern misinformation and disinformation, partisan influences and nonpartisan resources. https://wevote.seventy.org/choose-your-news-wisely

Make A Plan:

Register and Verify Your Registration. In Pennsylvania, go to votespa.com.
Research the best method for you to vote successfully—early voting, in person, by mail, or ballot drop-off .
Respond ahead of deadlines. Account for mail, volume, human error, long lines, and other delays. In Pennsylvania, the last day to register is October 19. The last day to request a mail-in ballot is October 27.

Sign Here: Your signature is an important element of registering and voting successfully. Use a legible and consistent signature on your forms. Remember to sign your mail-in ballot before returning it.

Get Specialty Support:

Military Voter Assistance and overseas citizens: https://www.fvap.gov

Voters with Disabilities: https://www.ndrn.org/voting/

Language Accessibility for voters: https://www.eac.gov/election-officials/language-access

Register to Vote

Register to vote and/or request a mail-in ballot so you can vote safely in the upcoming U.S. election. Visit http://vot-er.org/penn or text VOTE PENN to 34444. Don’t delay; the Pennsylvania voter registration deadline is October 19, 2020! You can also use the link and phone number to register and/or request a mail-in ballot for other states.

Connect To Penn Resources:

Penn Leads the Vote (PLTV) provides nonpartisan voter resources for Penn students powered by the Motivote platform at pennvotes.org and https://upenn.motivote.us.

To support PSOM’s healthy and safe voter initiative, go to vot-er.org/penn or text VOTE PENN to 34444.

Join PPSA’s National Constitution Day Voter Preparation Celebration via Zoom on September 17 at noon. Email ogca@pobox.upenn.edu to register.

Sign up for one of OGCA’s Virtual Voter Support Sessions:

• Thursday, September 17, 4 p.m.
• Friday, September 18, 10 a.m.
• Monday, September 21, 1 p.m.
• Tuesday, September 22, 6 p.m.

Email ogca@pobox.upenn.edu to register.