Register to vote and find answers to voting questions this week.

Elections will take place in states across the country in coming months, from municipal elections to the presidential primaries.

This time of year, new and returning voters alike might find themselves with questions about registering to vote, the voting process, and even the candidates from which they will choose.

The Gaston County Board of Elections will host an event this month that aims to answer some of those questions.

From 4-7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 7, the county will set up shop at 410 W. Franklin Blvd., Suite 30, to share information with the public about the voting process, absentee voting, early voting, and more.

According to the county, photo ID will be required to vote in municipal elections starting with the 2023 election cycle.

This event will offer detailed information on this change and how residents without a driver’s license or other official photo ID can get one for free to participate in elections.

County residents can also register to vote at this event.

For those who can’t make it, Gaston County Elections Director Adam Ragan adds that county residents can register any time by visiting the Board of Elections office located at 410 W. Franklin Blvd. Suite 50.

“We accept registrations every day of the year,” Ragan said.

Since the Board of Elections is non-partisan and non-political, there will not be any information available about candidates, or information about how voters can research candidates, according to Ragan.

“We leave it up to the candidates to provide that information and the voters to research the candidates that are on the ballot,” Ragan said.

So, how can voters research candidates, and how can they be sure the information they get is as neutral as possible?

Here is a breakdown on how to research candidates running for municipal, state, and presidential offices using non-partisan.

Municipal and state elections

While the state board of elections maintains a spreadsheet each election year that lists all candidates running for local office, there are no known one-stop-shop websites where voters can find information about those candidates.

According to Gastonia spokeswoman Mary Elliott, it is generally left up to the candidate to get the word out about their campaign.

Some ways this might happen is local news coverage and by the candidate participating in debates or exchanges.

When it comes to state offices, voters can find non-partisan information about candidates they will see on the ballot by visiting websites like BallotReady.org closer to election time, when that information becomes available.

Ballot Ready is a non-partisan website that allows voters to directly enter their address and find information on who currently represents them and the candidates running in an upcoming election.

Candidates running for state offices also often create commercials that can be seen on local television channels and conduct their own outreach in a number of other ways.

Presidential election

There is a wide variety of information available online during the year of the presidential election.

When looking for a non-partisan place to find information about candidates, voters could again turn to BallotReady.org for personalized information about representatives.

Voters can also use sites like Ballotpedia.org, which keeps voters up to date on everything from the candidates running for office to the schedule of primary and presidential debates.

Ballotpedia is another non-partisan tool for voters to utilize.

In regard to finding the presidential candidate a voter has the most in common with regarding political issues, voters can use ISideWith.com’s free online quiz.

ISideWith is a non-partisan organization that provides the candidate-match quiz and more.

When taking the quiz, voters can click learn more, stats, or discuss under any given question to find extra information, statistics related to the issue, and even an open forum of discussion on the topic, to which anybody can contribute.

These are only a few of many great non-partisan tools online to help voters make the most informed decision for themselves.

Avoiding misinformation

The missing piece of the election year puzzle for many voters is finding ways to avoid misinformation.

Misinformation can come in many forms from deep fake videos to stories including “facts” that have no basis.

For voters who are concerned about misinformation in the coming election cycle, websites like AllSides.com offer bias ratings on thousands of websites and individual news articles.

AllSides is another non-partisan tool that can be useful in finding unbiased news during the election year.

Voters who are interested in being able to identify misinformation more easily can sharpen those skills in the form of many online misinformation games. The American Press Institute offers a list of misinformation games on their website to help voters practice spotting misinformation out in the wild.

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Register to vote and find answers to voting questions this week.