Voting Speed Run (November 2024)
I voted as fast as I could and timed it. Can you beat my time?
The Rules
- Record a continuous video of the entire process
- Follow your local laws about photographing your ballot
- One must start from a blank ballot
- You must vote accurately to your thoughtful choices (fill those circles in proper!)
- Ballot must be in the box and require no further work from the voter to be counted
- No applying the sticker until the ballot is in the box
- Time is called when the “I Voted” sticker is applied
Strategy
Choose Your Method
I’m lazy, introverted, and I like to get things over with as early as I can, so I choose a mail-in ballot every time. I recommend this highly, but you can also:
- Vote early in person with barely any line
- Drop-off mail-in ballots at polling places
- Do it in person on election day
Just make a plan and show up.
Find Your Closest Secure Ballot Box
My apartment complex has an outbound mailbox in my mail room, and that’s the closest one to me, so I picked it.
- Find your closest ballot drop-off: BallotMap.org
Get Ready
Learn about the election and figure out what you want to vote for on your local ballot. I research long ahead of any election, but everyone should receive a Sample Ballot in the mail a few weeks before the election. This is the perfect resource to practice with. You can even fill it out like a worksheet and then use it as reference for the real thing when the time comes. Having your choices ready to go beforehand makes it much easier.
- How Ranked Choice Voting works in case you need that
If you’re voting in person:
- Go early and leave plenty of time for waiting in line.
- Make a plan for getting there.
- If you’re up for it, offer to go with friends and family as a group.
If you’re voting by mail:
- Designate a flat clean surface to write on.
- Make sure your pen works. You need a black or blue ink pen that can fill in circles completely, so make sure you’re not using a dry old pen. Have a backup handy too.
- Have comfortable shoes on for getting up and running to the drop box.
- Have your sticker ready.
Figure out a comfortable way to film the whole thing. You may want a tripod to hold your camera while you’re voting or a selfie stick. Just consider the logistics.
Go!
Go vote! Share it with your friends. Post your video as a comment on my blog or social media. Challenge others to beat your time. Wear your “I Voted!” sticker proudly until it loses all it’s cheap adhesive and peels off.
And thanks for doing this. I appreciate everyone who puts in the effort to reduce harm and try to steer this corrupt country just an inch further from the cliff every couple years. Happy voting! 🤞
My time was 05:43.55. Can you beat that?
It took me less than 6 minutes to do something my political opponents are working their hardest to stop me from doing.
The work continues for the other 364 days, 23 hours, and 54 minutes of my year. Because voting counts, but it’s not the only power we have.