What’s the deal with voting?

For those who will have the pleasure of voting for the first time in this year’s general election on Nov. 6, here is a primer on the procedure.

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Drop off your ballot before 8 p.m. on Nov. 6

And for all of those veteran voters, here is a refresher.

Several options exist for learning about candidates and issues on the ballot.

An essential guide for student voters can be found in the Associated Students of Portland State University’s nonpartisan guide to candidates and issues affecting students in the Portland metro area. Pick up a copy from the ASPSU office, located in room 117 of Smith Memorial Student Union.

Multnomah County publishes a voter’s guide, accessible online at web.multco.us/elections/may-2012-primary-election-online-voters-guide-0.

While you might be familiar with some of the presidential candidates, you may not know them all:

Barack Obama and Joe Biden—Democratic

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan—Republican

Jill Stein and Cheri Honkala—Green

Rocky Anderson and Luis Rodriguez—Progressive

Will Christensen and Kenneth Gibbs—Constitution

Gary Johnson and James Gray—Libertarian

Candidates running for congress are divided into the 1st and 3rd Congressional Districts.

The 1st Congressional District of Oregon is the northwest corner of the state and is currently represented by Democrat Suzanne Bonamici. The 3rd Congressional District covers most of Multnomah County, including Portland east of the Willamette, Gresham and Troutdale, and is represented by Democrat Earl Blumenauer. The candidates for the 1st Congressional District are:

Suzanne Bonamici—Democrat

Robert Ekstrom—Constitution

Delinda Morgan—Republican

Steven Reynolds—Progressive, Libertarian, Pacific Green

The candidates for the 3rd Congressional District are:

Earl Blumenauer—Democrat

Woodrow Broadnax—Pacific Green

Michael Cline—Libertarian

Ronald Green—Republican

Statewide candidates include those running for secretary of state, state treasurer, state attorney general and state commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries.

Regional candidates consist of state representatives from the various house districts of Oregon (26 to 52), and
state senators.

Several ballot measures are being considered by voters this year. The measures address issues regarding estate tax, corporate tax and education funding, and the legalization of marijuana.

Once you have done your research, weighed your options and established your decisions, there are many convenient ballot drop-off locations on campus.

ASPSU will have unofficial drop boxes in their office in SMSU 117. There will also be collection tables in front of Millar Library and on the second floor of the Academic and Student Rec Center. On Monday and Tuesday, ASPSU representatives will be collecting ballots between SMSU and Neuberger Hall throughout the day. There are also drop boxes at the Multnomah County Library on Southwest 10th Avenue, and at Pioneer Square.

The deadline to mail in your ballot is Friday, Nov. 2. If a ballot is mailed after this deadline, the post office cannot guarantee the ballots will reach the county elections facility in time.

The final deadline for Oregonians to turn their ballots in is 8 p.m. on Nov 6.

If you are a registered voter and have not received your ballot, ASPSU’s campus organizer, Courtney Veronneau, has some helpful advice.

“If students haven’t received a ballot but think they should have, chances are it is an issue with their address,” Veronneau said. “If you are registered in the county where you live, but have moved within the county, you can go to your county elections office with a valid form of ID and they can, in most cases, print you a new ballot and update the address.”

But for a voter who used to live in a different count, now living in Multnomah County, who didn’t update his or her voter registration, it may be too late to receive a ballot.

Students who have any ballot issues should call the county elections office. The director of elections for
Multnomah County is Tim Scott, who can be reached at 503-988-3720.

Presidential race results will be reported on an ongoing basis throughout the evening of Nov. 6 starting as early as 5 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. Official state elections results will begin coming in after the deadline at 8 p.m. Stay tuned early as some preliminary results may be reported before then as well.

On Nov. 6, ASPSU will be having an election results viewing party from 3 to 10 p.m. in the SMSU ballroom.

The Vanguard will be hosting live election coverage on its website, psuvanguard.com, starting at 8 p.m., and posting results as they become available.

Happy voting!