Many first time voters who turned 18 before the presidential election on Nov. 8 are preparing to cast their votes.

And for those who did not register, it’s not too late.

In Illinois students who did not sign up can register on Election day.

“For students voting for the first time I would first go to the DuPage Board of Election website and verify where it is you are going to vote to verify which polling place it is and if you are registered,” government teacher Mary Ellen Daneels said.

Voters who turned 18 before the election had the chance to sign up to vote in their government class.

“Of the students that were eligible to register to vote most of them did register to vote,” Daneels said.

For students who did not turn 18 before the election, they will have to wait until April.

“Many of the students (who do not turn 18 by the election) indicated their desire to vote later this semester because next April we will be having school board elections and local elections in this area,” Daneels said.

Senior Harsh Patel signed up to vote in his government class and is excited to cast his vote.

“I feel that as a citizen everyone should vote because people are supposed to help make decisions in this country. If they don’t vote then they are not exercising that right and then they might not get what they want,” Patel said.

One of the tips that Daneels offers voters is to look at the Board of Election page’s sample ballot to get familiar with them.

For students who are unsure who they will vote for, Daneels suggested online websites.

“Websites such as isidewith will match you with the most compatible candidate. It is almost like eHarmony but for the presidential races,” Daneels said.

Another site that will inform voters includes Ballotpedia. Students can put in their address and it brings up all of the names of the candidates and compares and contrasts.

Once Election day is over, it’s time to register the new voters.

“Starting Nov. 9 the government teachers will be back in business to register will register kids to vote for the April election,” Daneels said.  

The following links to help people with the elections are listed below. https://www.icivics.org/, https://ballotpedia.org/Main_Page,  https://www.dupageco.org/election/