Today is deadline to register to vote in this election cycle

It’s Floridians’ last chance to register to vote for the November election — if you haven’t done so by the end of Tuesday, Oct. 9, you’ll have to sit out this year’s election.

The easiest way to register is to do it online. The state’s online voter registration tool is at Register tovoteflorida.gov. You can also check whether you’re already registered at the site.

You’ll need your Social Security number and your driver’s license or Florida ID number to register online.

If you don’t have those identification numbers, you’ll have to do this the old-fashioned way: handdeliver a filled-out voter registration form to your county supervisor of elections.

Once you’ve registered, remember to vote.

Election Day is Nov. 6, but given mail-in and early voting — and the fact that more and more voters choose these options every election cycle — Nov. 6 would probably best be renamed Vote Counting Day.

Which way of voting is right for you, and how can you do it? Read on!

Mail-in voting

What is it? It’s what used to be called an absentee ballot, back when it was meant especially for people who would be out of state, or at least far outside their precinct, on Election Day. These days, though, anybody can request a mail-in ballot.

What is it good for? Convenience, out-of-towners, shut-ins and people who just want to avoid waiting in line to vote. The original idea behind absentee ballots was that folks who would be away from their polling sites on Election Day would still get the opportunity to vote, and that’s still the case. On the other end of the scale, if you can’t leave your house, mail-in ballots also give you the opportunity to vote, enfranchising thousands.

Aside from these necessities, there’s simply the matter of convenience. Once your ballot is mailed to you, you have plenty of opportunity to research candidates and fill in the ballot on your own time, and you don’t have to go out and stand in a line to do it.

How do I do it? Go to the website of your county supervisor of elections and click on the “vote by mail” icon. On both the Broward and Palm Beach county election supervisors’ websites, it’s in a menu bar toward the top of the page. You’ll need to put in a request by 5 p.m. Oct. 31, and your filled-in ballot must be delivered no later than 7 p.m. Nov. 6. If you get a mail-in ballot on the last day, that leaves very little time to fill it out and mail it back. If you didn’t fill in your ballot until Election Day, you can still drop it off at your county supervisor of elections office. You can even drop off a blank mail-in ballot at your polling site and vote early or on Election Day. You just can’t vote more than once.

Early voting

What is it? Every county will have several designated early voting sites that people can go to and vote in the two weeks before Election Day. You don’t have to go to the one closest to you — just go to any early voting site in your county.

What is it good for? Think of early voting as a hybrid offering

some of the convenience of mail-in voting along with some of the civic-mindedness of voting on Election Day.

How do I do it? Show up with your driver’s license or other signed photo ID. Early voting sites in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami Dade counties are all open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Oct. 22 to Nov. 4. If you want to avoid crowds, it’s better to go on weekdays.

The biggest crowds will likely be Sunday, Nov. 4, not only because of last-minute early voters, but also because of the traditional Souls to the Polls event, in which the congregations of black churches head en masse to the voting booth.

You can find your early voting site in Broward and Palm Beach counties here.

Election Day

What is it? Voting the way they did it in the good ol’ days — you show up to your neighborhood precinct, on a specific day, and that’s when you vote.

What is it good for? For a lot of folks, there’s just something that feels right about standing in line on Election Day to cast a ballot. But there are advantages to waiting. The news cycle doesn’t stop just because people start turning in their mail-in ballots. It’s possible that news could be reported just before Election Day that would change how you vote, and if you’ve already voted, it’s too late to go back and request a do-over.

How do I do it? Your county supervisor of elections should send you a card in the mail that will tell you your polling place. Just show up there before 7 p.m. Nov. 6 when polls close. (If you’re still in line at 7 p.m., stay there; you’re still allowed to vote.) Make sure to bring a valid ID card. For voting purposes in Florida, that includes a state-issued driver’s license or ID card, a U.S. passport, a military or student ID, a retirement center or public assistance ID, a Department of Veterans Affairs health card, a concealed carry license or a government employee ID card.

If you never got your polling information from your county supervisor of elections, you can look it up at the state’s voter information lookup page. After entering in your first and last name and date of birth, it will give you your voter registration information and then provide a link to your local supervisor of elections’ page, which will use the information provided to tell you where your polling place is.

One last thing

No matter how you vote, your vote is counted just the same. Mail-in ballots and early votes are not secondclass votes. They’re not the same as provisional ballots, and it’s not true that they don’t get counted unless they’re absolutely needed. Your vote is always counted the same, whether it’s by mail, early or on Nov. 6.