I had a million excuses for not registering to vote. They started when I turned 18.
First, I didn’t know how to register. Then, I was moving around too much during college. Then, I was just “not feeling the election cycle right now.” Or, I was just too busy with work. Or, it would take too much time out of my day. The list goes on.
Five years later, as a 23-year-old reporter covering Starkville and Oktibbeha County’s local government, I was still not registered to vote.
I knew primary elections were coming up Aug. 8. I knew the deadline to register for the primary was July 10. I’d even read it in The Dispatch.
But on Thursday morning, of all things, I saw a Facebook post saying the deadline, July 10, is this upcoming Monday.
It finally clicked. I wasn’t going to be able to vote in a real primary election.
Politicians were going to get closer to the general election in November — closer to making real decisions affecting my city and my county — without me even voting. I will end up reporting on who’s elected and their actions, and I wasn’t even trying to cast a vote in the primaries, because I was … scared of paperwork?
Within an hour, I was walking into the Oktibbeha County Circuit Courthouse with gritted teeth. I was ready for the battle ahead. No matter how long it took, I was going to register to vote.
When I entered, I was greeted by the circuit clerk’s office staff, many of whom recognized me from work. Schreese Carter, deputy circuit clerk, asked me who I needed to talk to today, and I sheepishly answered that I was actually there to get registered to vote.
Schreese laughed a little, saying she thought I was already registered, with how many times I’ve been in the courthouse. I laughed with her, with my face simultaneously turning tomato-colored.
Then, she handed me a clipboard with a stack of papers on it.
I sighed and sat down for what I assumed would be the next hour. But when I thumbed through the stack, I realized they were all just copies of the same one-page form.
It took five minutes. Five. Minutes. I wish I had gotten out a stopwatch and timed it, because it may have been even shorter.
All I had to do was fill out my name, address, birthday, my drivers’ license number or the last four digits of my Social Security number and sign a line agreeing I am of legal voting age, a U.S. citizen, a resident of the city, county and state for the past 30 days, and verify a few other voting requirements — like that I haven’t been convicted of voter fraud or a disenfranchising crime.
It was one sheet of paper.
I passed the paper back to Schreese and she stamped it with the date it was filed. Then, she told me my voter registration card would be in my mailbox within a week. I asked her if they needed anything else from me. She told me no.
Dazed, I asked to talk to Circuit Clerk Tony Rook. I asked him if registering is really that easy for everyone. He told me basically, yes. And this Saturday, every county circuit clerk’s office is required to be open from 8 a.m. to noon to help voters register before the deadline.
Those who register between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday can also vote in the upcoming primary.
Then, Tony showed me the Secretary of State’s website, https://www.sos.ms.gov/yall-vote. With a couple of clicks, he pulled up an exact sample ballot for my home address, along with my exact polling place.
While I will not be sharing my home address with the entire Golden Triangle, I’m not exaggerating when I say my polling place is less than a minute from my house.
So, I really don’t have any excuses anymore. See you at the polls on Aug. 8.
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