A Guide to the 2020 Election

Casting Your Vote: In-Person and By Mail

Oh no! I’m not registered yet!

There is same-day registration in 21 states and D.C.: refer to the National Conference of State Legislature’s page on Same Day Voter Registration.

How to Vote In-Person in Saratoga Springs

If you are registered to vote at with your Skidmore address (a.k.a. in Saratoga Springs), you can vote: 

  • Early in Gavin Park (10 Lewis Rd, Saratoga Springs) on Thursday, Oct 29th and Friday, Oct. 20th from 9 AM to 5 pm; Saturday, Oct. 31st and Sunday, Nov, 1st from 9 AM to 2 PM

  • On Election Day (Tuesday, Nov. 3rd) in Case Center from 6 AM to 9 PM

  • On Election Day (Tuesday, Nov. 3rd) at Saratoga Springs City Center (522 Broadway, Saratoga Springs) from 6 AM to 9 PM

State-by-State Deadlines for Absentee Ballots

Refer to U.S. Vote Foundation, vote.org, or your state’s Division of Elections.

Your Vote: What Does it Mean?

Presidential Election

For a brief overview of the Electoral College, I recommend the TED-Ed video, “Does your vote count? The Electoral College explained” (2012), which can be found on YouTube.

How many electors does each state have in 2020? (Image from Wikipedia)

1200px-ElectoralCollege2020.svg.png

  • This is also the number of congressional representatives in each state.

What are Faithless Electors and why might that be important?

  • There is no federal law or constitutional provision which binds the electors to the winner of the popular vote in their state. However, the precedent is that the party who elects the electors gets their votes.

  • There were seven faithless electors in 2016 (WA, HI, TX), the most since 1972.

  • July 2020: Supreme Court ruled that states could make a law which binds electors to the winning party. 31 states and D.C. have enacted such a law for the upcoming election.

For a fun novel about where the Electoral College could all go wrong (in an almost too-timely situation), check out The People’s Choice by Jeff Greenfield (1995).

Congress 

Members of the House of Representatives and the Senate are elected by popular vote. Congressional districts are redrawn every ten years during the redistricting process. For more information on redistricting, see Ballotpedia's page on redistricting.

Voter Suppression

Voter suppression takes form in many ways, such as the wait time at polling places, the number of polling places in an area, and voter ID laws, and is seen across the country. It is crucial to pay attention to your state’s election rules and how they can suppress the voting rights of millions of people of color, persons with disabilities, immigrants, the elderly, and students. For a deeper look into voter suppression from a historical and legal perspective, watch the New York Times video, “Why Voting in This U.S. Election Will Not Be Equal” (2020). Also check out my 2019 Skidmore News article titled “How Student Voter Oppression is Upending Democracy” which is still incredibly relevant in this election. For a Skidmore News article about broader themes in this election, see the October 2020 article by Eleanor Ketterer-Sykes, “2020 Presidential Election: A Conversation with Professor Christopher Mann.”