Voter Registration Forms: Educate Yourself

Article from the NIU Newsroom: New study scrutinizes time and effort it takes to vote in each state. (September 25, 2018)

Voting by mail information for the November 2020 general election, from the Illinois Board of Elections >>  https://bit.ly/21MVot

The National Council of State Legislatures has information about who can collect an absentee ballot other than the voter as part of their in-depth resource, Voting Outside the Polling Place: Absentee, All-Mail and Other Voting At Home Options. (July 10, 2020)

• Ballotpedia -- This nonpartisan, nonprofit site started out gathering information on ballots from across the country, but has developed into an in-depth encyclopedia of American politics and elections. You can find sample ballots for a given locale, voter ID laws, along with information on districts, elected officials and candidates at the state and national levels. There is much to explore here.
• GovTrack Insider -- features articles about bills proposed in Congress. Provides brief descriptions of the legislation with summaries of what both supporters and opponents claim the legislation would do. (This site is hosted by Medium.com)
• Open Secrets -- from the site: "Nonpartisan, independent and nonprofit, the Center for Responsive Politics is the nation's premier research group tracking money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy. " The Center for Responsive Politics provides "data and analysis on money in politics to inform and engage Americans, champion transparency, and expose disproportionate or undue influence on public policy." They have a helpful Learning Center where you can find out more about money in politics and lobbying, and learn the "10 Things You Should Know" and the "10 Things They Won't Tell You."
• Open States -- provides information at the state level for all fifty states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. Enter a street address to find the associated legislator, find current legislation for any state. Open States does include bulk downloads for state data in JSON and CSV formats, but it looks like the latest is from 2017, so this may be something they no longer support.
• PopVox -- This site is set up to help you contact your lawmakers, read up on current bills, and voice your support or opposition to proposed legislation. You can add your voice to various advocacy groups listed in the Stakeholder Directory. This lists a range of organizations from AARP to VoteVets. Signup for updates and follow groups you support.
• Represent -- Find out what your representatives in Congress say and do. Search lobbyists to see what issues they are promoting and what members they support with donations. Represent also regularly checks for new statements from members of Congress, to see what issues they are talking about. You can also see how they voted and how their offices spent money. (From the Sunlight Foundation)