Many LFHS juniors and seniors will be voting for their first time in 2018. Voting for the first time is daunting, so here are a few things you should know, regardless of which candidates you support.

The primary is when political parties vote to decide which candidate for their party they want to run in the general election. For example, in the 2016 presidential election, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton ran against each other in the Democratic primary and Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton ran against each other in the general election.

The 2018 primary election is March 20th. The polls are open from 6:00 am to 7:00 pm. You have a polling place assigned to you which is probably a church, school or other public place close to your home. You do not need to have an ID as long as you are registered.

If you will be 18 by the General Election, you can vote in the primary. Online registration is closed, but you can still take advantage of “Grace-Period Registration” and register in person. Make sure to bring two forms of identification. If you don’t know if you are registered, you can check here. That link will also show you your polling place and where you can register.

You can only vote for one party, Democrat or Republican. If you plan to vote Democrat, here is a link to your ballot. If you plan to vote Republican, here is a link to your ballot. Many positions are uncontested in both parties, but there are several important contested ones, including Governor, Attorney General and Congressman (in the Republican Party).

I encourage you to look at your chosen ballot and learn about the candidates for the contested offices. Voting may seem tedious, but it is important and with early voting and Grace Period Registration, there is no excuse not to.

The general election will be November 6th, 2018.