Come help at the Public Square table in the foyer on Sunday, September 20 and
Sunday, September 27. We are there to do two simple things for anyone who stops by: help them
check whether they are registered to vote, and help them register if they are not.
No experience needed — if you can use an iPad and be friendly, you can do this.
What you'll be doing
The first thing
Help someone check if they're registered
Most people think they are registered and have never actually looked. Walk them through it
on a phone or tablet at indianavoters.in.gov → Check your registration record.
All it asks for is their name, date of birth and county (Lake County for most of us).
In about thirty seconds it shows them:
- whether they are registered, and at what address
- where their polling place is
- a preview of their actual ballot
Watch for this: the most common surprise is someone who moved and
never updated their address. They are still registered — just at the old place, which
sends them to the wrong polling location. That is a fix, and it's the same form as registering.
The second thing
Help someone register, or update their address
Same website, Register to vote. To do it right there on the spot they need an
Indiana driver's license or Indiana state ID — that is what the online form
verifies against.
To register in Indiana, a person must:
- be a U.S. citizen
- be 18 by the day of the general election
- have lived in their precinct at least 30 days before the election
- not currently be incarcerated for a conviction
No Indiana license or state ID? They can still register — just
on paper instead of online. Hand them a paper form at the table and point them to the county
clerk. Never turn anyone away; there is always a way. We also have absentee
applications available to hand out.
If someone hands you a filled-in paper form, give it to Barbara the same
day. Don't take it home and don't put it in a bag. Once we accept a form on someone's
behalf, Indiana gives us a deadline to get it to the county — so it never sits
overnight with a volunteer. And never write down or photograph anyone's driver's license or
Social Security number.
The third thing
If they can't make it on November 3
Two different answers, and most people are steered to the wrong one:
- Early in-person voting is open to everyone — no reason or excuse needed. It
starts Tuesday, October 6 at the county clerk's office and satellite sites. For most
people who say "I'll be busy that day," this is the answer.
- Voting by mail in Indiana requires a reason. Being 65 or older, being out of the
county on election day, being confined by illness or injury, caring for someone who is
— the full list is on the application. Most people do not qualify, so don't
promise it.
We can hand out the mail-in application, never a ballot. Actual
ballots come only from the county election board, straight to the voter. The application can
also be done on the same site, and it must be in by
11:59 pm Thursday, October 22, 2026.
How we carry ourselves
We help everyone, and we don't talk politics at the table
This table is about access, not persuasion. We help whoever walks up, no matter who they
are or how they vote. No candidates, no parties, no issues — if someone wants to talk
about all that, point them to Public Square and keep the table moving.
And if you get a question you can't answer, that's completely fine. 1-866-IN-1-VOTE
is the state's own help line, and the county clerk's office handles anything unusual.
Before you come
Spend ten minutes on the site first
This is the one thing that makes the difference between feeling awkward at the table and
feeling useful. Go to indianavoters.in.gov
before your Sunday and:
- Look up your own record. You'll see exactly what the person in front of you sees.
- Click into "Register to vote" far enough to see what it asks for, so nothing is a surprise.
- Find your own polling place and sample ballot on the results page.
That's it. Ten minutes and you'll be comfortable. Arrive about five minutes before your slot
and someone will get you settled.
Why these two Sundays matter: the deadline to register for the general election on
Tuesday, November 3, 2026 is Monday, October 5, 2026. After that date, nobody new can
be registered in time — so these are two of the last Sundays it still counts.
Pick your slot
There are four slots each Sunday — three are 45 minutes and the last one
is 30. We need 3 people in every slot, so nobody is standing at the table
alone and there is always someone free to talk while the others are helping.
Type your name in any open spot and press Save — it saves right away, and everyone who
opens this sheet after you will see it.
