By Oliver Parks, Staff Writer 

You did it! You’ve grown up enough to become a legal adult and now you find yourself with new privileges you’ve never had before. Instead of worrying about upcoming taxes and student debt that litters your future path, let’s take a deep breath and look at the glory of voting.

Voting is a major part of American life, serving as a special moment where you stake your claims and opinions and show your support to those you believe in. As daunting a task as voting may seem, the whole shebang can be broken down into a few simple steps, which I shall lay out for you in a clear and humorous way. Along for the ride is AP Government teacher Erin Basilone, who’s something of a voting guru.

So sit back, relax and get ready to play along with Voting for Dummies!

Step One: Getting started

“Voting is a civic duty,” Basilone said. “I also think it’s something people should be excited about, be interested in.” 

Before you can get excited about voting, though, you have to be eligible to cast a ballot. Registration is the name of the game here, and it’s something every 18-year-old can do when they reach their christened golden age. The registration process isn’t too complicated, although every state has different ways to do it.

“What you can do in the state of North Carolina is you can pre-register to vote once you turn 16, and (they) keep your application on file,” Basilone said. “You just check the box that says you understand that you can’t vote until you actually do turn 18.”

Some, if not most, states also allow for the whole process to be online, which makes it even more convenient, though there is still a paper application process for those wishing for the authentic ways of old. Most young voters in North Carolina are offered the chance to register when they get their driver’s license. Do note that, for each election, there is a registration deadline for voting periods, so make sure to research specific time slots and plan accordingly.

Step Two: Gotta do your homework

Choices! As if there weren’t enough in your life to stress you out, you get to make even more of them once you are officially registered. But I tell you, these are very important choices, so researching candidates and political parties is incredibly important.

There are many ways you can do this. More importantly, there isn’t really one right choice you should feel obligated to vote for – the decision is yours to make. The more research you do, the more it benefits your vote.

“There’s lots of local elections. For example, there’s the school board elections, and those are individuals who you might have read a profile for on the Outer Banks Voice if you’re paying attention,” Basilone said. “They might have a website, or a Facebook page, but sometimes it takes a little bit of digging to figure out who they are and what they stand for.”

The League of Women’s Voters has your back with a helpful website called vote411.org, which has great resources that can help you on your voting quest. You also can look up your very own sample ballot before you vote so you know who all the candidates are in all the races – from the biggest national office to the smallest local elected official, not that size matters.

You can also visit the NC State Board of Elections website at www.ncsbe.gov and click on Sample Ballot, if you’re just really desperate for that sweet, sweet voting process info. Armed with this information, you can do your research and know exactly who you’re voting for long before you enter your polling place.

Step Three: Doing it by the book

Like most things in life, voting has a lot of rules and regulations to follow. These vary from when you can actually cast your vote to what you might need to vote.

For starters, it’s important to make sure you actually have the time needed to vote. Polling places in North Carolina are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Election Day. If you’re busy working on Tuesday, Nov. 8, some businesses will let you have time off to vote, but in other cases you have to plan time on your own. You know, sacrifice your lunch break for American politics, really do your part.

“There’s a number of different options, too. You could vote early, which is a great option,” Basilone chimed in.

That’s right: While on Election Day you vote at your specific town precinct – Southern Shores, Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills, Nags Head, etc. – early voting starts Oct. 20 and is available up until Nov. 5 at three locations in Dare County: Buxton for the Hatteras folks, the Dare County Administration Center in Manteo, and the Kill Devil Hills Town Hall, conveniently located across the street from FFHS! Early voting hours run from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on weekdays (8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays), so it’s pretty convenient to pick a time.

A last tiny tidbit: In recent years, it has become necessary in some states to have a photo ID of oneself in order to vote. While it’s also been proposed in North Carolina, you don’t need an ID to vote here, so just tell the nice polling worker who you are and they’ll take it from there. Don’t worry, they’ll know who you are. We all know who you are.

With so many options at the variety of polling centers, it should be easy to pick your winner and pin that tail on the … non-politically affiliated … m-mule. So good luck, campers!

Step Four: Enjoy the fruit of your labors

It’s all come to this: Everything in your life has led up to this moment, and after it nothing will ever be the same – or something along those lines. Either way, you’ve made it to our feature presentation, and the name of the flickering film is “Voting.”

“Even if you’re not voting, it’s still good to maybe connect with somebody that is,” Basilone said.

Now that you’ve tossed your vote into the bingo roller of American politics, just cross your fingers and try to roll high. Once you’ve done your civic duty and made your voice heard, it’s time to either go back to work, go home and sleep, or do something else legal to celebrate your accomplishments. There’s also the small matter of seeing how it all came out: Big national races like the North Carolina’s U.S. Senate seat will be on the major TV networks on Tuesday night (Nov. 8th), but if you want to know who your new Dare County Schools Board of Education members are, you’ll need to check out local outlets online like the Outer Banks Voice or OBX Today for that power hour of fun.

And don’t feel bad if your candidate didn’t win. You’ll get a chance to vote again next November.

“It’s not something that should be intimidating. It should be something that people feel totally comfortable with doing,” Basilone said. “Don’t be intimidated and enjoy the sticker.” 

Senior Oliver Parks can be reached at 23parksol67@daretolearn.org.