if you go to the polls on nov. 8, you won<u+2019>t just cast your ballot for the next president. you will likely have to choose members of congress, too, along with a host of state and local politicians and ballot measures. making sense of it all can be overwhelming, but there are apps and websites that help demystify this process. here are online resources that have answers to your election questions: is it too late to register? if you search <u+201c>is it too late to register to vote?<u+201d> on google, specially designed search results will tell you the deadlines for voter registration in your state. if it is still possible, it will steer you to info for registering online, by mail or in person. while the voter-registration deadline for many states has passed, a handful of states let you register in person on election day, so don<u+2019>t skip this step if you<u+2019>re not already registered. how do i verify my registration status? and how do i find my polling place? go to the voter info hub at headcount.org , a nonpartisan organization that promotes voter engagement. click <u+201c>verify that you<u+2019>re registered<u+201d> then select your state, and you will be taken to your state<u+2019>s voter registration website. enter the required info, and you will see your registration status and the location of your polling place. how do i get an absentee ballot? if you<u+2019>re already registered to vote, you can type a google search for <u+201c>absentee ballot [your state]<u+201d> or you can visit vote.org<u+2019>s absentee ballot page to request one. (vote.org is also a nonpartisan voter-assistance organization.) just don<u+2019>t wait: a week or more may be required for your state to mail you the ballot. can i vote early? a google search of <u+201c>can i vote early?<u+201d> can tell you when and how to vote early in your state. some responses are unclear, so another good resource is vote.org<u+2019>s early voting calendar . what<u+2019>s on my local ballot? google is surprisingly helpful here, too. just type <u+201c>who<u+2019>s on my ballot?<u+201d> and the search engine will strive to answer. (you can change addresses if its default answer is based on the wrong one.) another easy resource is ballotpedia<u+2019>s sample ballot lookup page . how can i dig deeper on the candidates and issues? looking at your ballot on ballotpedia is a first step into digging deeper on your candidates. in addition to showing ballot information, the site has a hub for local elections that provides more info. it also helps to visit the websites and twitter and facebook pages for the candidates. the center for responsive politics is a nonpartisan, nonprofit research group devoted to tracking money in u.s. politics and its effect on elections and public policy. on its website, opensecrets.org , you can see how much money candidates have raised and how much super pacs have raised for them, as well as who is doing the donating. the countable app for iphone and android is also handy. you can see candidates<u+2019> voting history along with vote details and an explanation of why lawmakers would choose to vote as they did. the app<u+2019>s maker, countable corp. counts both democrats and republicans among its advisers . an app called buypartisan , also available for iphone and android, provides a clever way to show you which companies support which presidential candidates. you scan bar codes of products to see how much their producer and its ceo donated to each candidate. how do i check election results? aside from tv news channels, every major news website will be covering the results as they come in. the wall street journal and other news outlets will have election tallies updated in near real-time, and you can monitor them on your phone or a web browser. most u.s. newsrooms rely on the associated press<u+2019> election data, because the ap gets results directly from local election officials so a handy app is ap news for the iphone. for android phones, it is ap mobile . if you want a simplified experience, the 270towin app for the iphone and ipad will update election results on a 50-state map. for more interaction, ask alexa. if you have an amazon product that is equipped with the alexa virtual assistant, you can ask the bot questions such as <u+201c>which states has hillary clinton won?<u+201d> and <u+201c>how many electoral votes does donald trump have?<u+201d> write to nathan olivarez-giles at nathan.olivarez-giles@wsj.com
voter guide: find answers to your election questions online - wsj
nathan olivarez-giles