Do NOT give the PTB any excuse to disqualify your ballot.

[Atticus]

While it is not unusual in the face of all the Trumpiness we witness daily to sometimes feel powerless, there IS one thing each of us can do that WILL make a difference: we can be sure that we cast a VALID ballot that WILL be counted.

Requirements vary somewhat from state to state, but if we READ THE INSTRUCTIONS accompanying the ballot and follow them, we can be a part of saving our democracy.

Be sure your ballot is mailed or delivered in time to meet your state's deadline.

Mark your ballot with the correct color pen and in the manner required, i.e., "fill in the oval". An "X" or a checkmark will not be counted.

Every---or nearly every---state requires a signature ON THE ENVELOPE !

For a better and more thorough explanation, SEE: https://www.businessinsider.com/mistakes-that-can-disqualify-your-mail-absentee-ballot-2020-9

[csziggy]

1. That is why my husband and I will be early voting as usual

If they have a question about my signature, I know it right away. I fill in my paper ballot and feed it into the scanner. If there is a problem with the ballot, the scanner kicks it out right away and I get a chance to correct the ballot. I know by the time I leave the polling place that my vote has been counted.

Voting early lets me go to whichever early polling place that is convenient, plus I have two weeks to find one at a time where there are not many people there. Last two primaries my husband and I were pretty much the only voters in the place - second time there was a guy leaving as we entered and another person in line behind us.

Mailing in a ballot involves either leaving the completed form in my street box - which is not secure - or driving into the post office which is farther away and more crowded than the polling places have been. They no longer have a drive up drop box outside the post office. Or I could drive even farther to take it to the drop box at the Supervisor of Elections Office, or go to one of the early voting locations to drop it off.

No matter, it is simpler and more secure for me to vote in person at early voting polling places.

[Tanuki]

2. Elsewhere I read that anyone who is planning to mail a ballot by USPS

should take it into the post office and witness it being date stamped by hand, instead of just dropping it into a mailbox.