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HOW TO PROTECT YOUR VOTE

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COME PREPARED

Confirm your polling location. Even if you haven’t moved, that doesn’t mean your polling location hasn’t. Check your location here:

http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/pollinglocation.aspx?page=361

Bring multiple forms of ID, if you have them — ideally a state-issued photo ID and a utility bill proving where you live. You can also check your voter registration here:

http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/voterquery.aspx?page=361

REPORT TROUBLE

If you are registered to vote and are turned away, ask a poll worker why. If you are asked to vote a provisional ballot, ask why. If you see someone else turned away, ask why… AND GET THE NAMES OF EVERY POLL WORKER YOU ASK.

If you vote on a touch screen machine, confirm every selection. If you vote on a machine that generates a paper receipt, check that too. When you get to the end of the ballot, confirm every selection again before casting your ballot.

Don’t trust the machine? You always have the option to cast a paper ballot. Just ask.

SHARE YOUR STORY

So what do you do if something goes wrong, maybe really wrong?

Is the polling location open on time? Are lines out into the parking lot? Are there too few voting machines or are several not working? Are multiple voters being turned away?

If you have a video camera, even a camera phone, START SHOOTING. Show us what’s happening. Be sure to identify yourself, your polling location address and your city. Explain what went wrong. Be sure that if you interview anyone else, you get their names as well. Write down, DO NOT FILM, their contact information so we can follow up. Aim for 30 seconds to three minutes tops. If the problem is affecting multiple voters, it’s better to shoot several shorter videos than one long one.

Next, report the problem by calling the national Election Protection Hotline at 866-OUR-VOTE. To have a video crew dispatched to your location if the problem is not quickly resolved, call Video the Vote – Ohio at 614-656-2141. Please leave your name, phone number, your polling location and what’s going on that shouldn’t. We’ll call you back immediately for details and get a team on the way.

If you have your own video footage, upload it as soon as you can to YouTube, Vimeo or whichever public video service you prefer. Email vtvohio@gmail.com with the link, and be sure to include your contact information and that of anyone you interview. We’ll consolidate the videos to share on our site.

You can also share your experience or warn fellow voters of trouble at our Facebook page or Twitter feed. Be sure to use the hashtag #VTVOHIO so we can track posts elsewhere.

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You can download a copy of these suggestions here: VTVOhio.pdf. Email it to friends and repost to your Facebook and Twitter accounts. EVERY VOTE COUNTS, SO EVERY VOTE SHOULD BE COUNTED.

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Video the Vote is a nonprofit, nonpartisan project not endorsed by any candidate or political party

Video the Vote - Ohio is proudly sponsored locally by The Free Press + Columbus Film Council