In the days following the last big holiday weekend of the summer, and with students and teachers returning to school, our thoughts are not typically on voting. But with the November elections less than 60 days away, I want to challenge our community to do just that. You can take steps now to ensure your voice is heard in November: All registered voters can now request an absentee ballot through the San Diego Registrar of Voters.

By taking advantage of the opportunity to vote by absentee ballot, you can take two weeks to complete your ballot, and can make sure that unforeseen circumstances – illness, work or travel – don’t keep you from the polls and your vote from being cast and counted.

Voting by absentee ballot allows you time to research candidates or ballot measures from the comfort of your own home. It makes voting more convenient. And absentee ballots turned in before Election Day are the first ones counted, and make their impact felt in the early returns.

There are three ways to obtain an absentee ballot. You can go to the Registrar of Voters Web site at www.sdvote.com and download the form, sign it and then return it to the Registrar of Voters. You can also prepare a written request that includes your name, address of residence and date of election for which the absentee ballot is being requested, and then mail, fax or hand-deliver it to the Registrar of Voters (info below). Finally, an absentee ballot application form will be on the back cover of each sample ballot mailed to registered voters beginning the first week of October. Simply tear off the card, sign and return it to the Registrar of Voters. All requests for absentee ballots must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. on Oct. 31. However, the sooner you submit your request, the sooner you will receive your ballot. All ballots must be returned before 8:00 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 7. They can even be dropped off at any polling place on Election Day.

Voting is one of the most critically important ways we have to make a difference, not just in our own struggle for equality but on a diverse range of issues important to us as a community and personally. The truth is that our equality will only come through political power, and each time we turn out to vote at higher levels, we increase our political clout and chances for success with policy issues of importance to us.

I also want to do something I don’t usually do: single out a subset of our community in a call to action. Unmarried women – a category that includes all lesbians not in a heterosexual marriage – rank among the lowest participants in elections nationally. If we want to make a difference in our lives and in the lives of those who will come after us, we must make this a priority and turn out to vote.

There are many ways to make it easy to vote. In addition to the opportunity to vote by absentee ballot, there is also the little-known option of early voting. Beginning Oct. 9 (the first day absentee ballots will be available), the early voting option is available at the Registrar of Voters from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. There is even weekend voting the weekend before Election Day, Nov. 4-5 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., also at the Registrar of Voters.

Registered voters can also go the more traditional route and show up at their designated polling place on Nov. 7. But if you have moved or have not previously registered, Oct. 23 is the last day to register to vote.

Our diverse LGBT community is one that includes many varied political philosophies and parties. But we are also a community that has vital interests at stake. Our right to vote gives us numerous opportunities to create different possibilities. Voting is one way to speak out and stand up. It’s private and it’s powerful. We cannot continue on our road to empowerment and full equality without voting. While LGBT people are still denied many rights under the law, we do have the right to vote. We must exercise that right as a political act of defiance, of liberation and of freedom.

Registrar of Voters

5201 Ruffin Road, Ste. 1

San Diego, CA 92186

(858) 565-5800

(858) 694-2955 (fax)

www.sdvote.com