Polling Place

Path to Voting

Olney, Maryland. The Polls on Election Day Source: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-USW3-010310-D]

Once you’ve taken care of your registration, it’s time to think about where to vote. Voters are told, in advance, where their designated polling place within their precinct will be. These are usually public buildings, such as schools, community centers, and town halls. Each voter is given a ballot, which list the candidates’ names, political party affiliation, and the office for which they’re running. You are then directed to a voting booth where you will cast your secret vote using a voting machine. The most common types of voting machines are the lever machine and the punch-card machine. The latter proved to be a bit of headache during the 2000 Presidential Election when punch-card ballots were misread more often than computerized ones. In 2001, the Florida Election Reform Act was passed to prohibit punch-card ballot machines during statewide elections. The important thing to remember about voting machines is that they allow you to vote in secrecy, and they allow you to vote a straight ticket or vote for candidates belonging to different political parties. Each state decides which voting methods to use, so these vary from one state to another.