The 2022 midterm elections are here — are you planning to vote? Do you know how to vote, where to vote, and what you might need to have when you show up to the polls? If your voter registration is out of date, or has a mistake, and you are challenged at the polls — what can you do?

KOSU is part of a new community-powered journalism project to answer those questions and any others you have about how to exercise your right to vote in the midterms. Our mission is to provide you with the information you need to vote — we’re not concerned about how you vote or who you vote for, we just want to make sure you have the information you need to vote and understand how elections are run and kept secure.

This project is part of the work of America Amplified, an initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to support community engagement journalism in public media. We’re also working with 28 other public media stations across the country to ensure that all eligible American citizens can vote.

Many states have changed voting regulations since the 2020 general election, when concerns about the pandemic led to an expansion of absentee and mail-in voting. This time around, some rules are different, and, there’s a ton of misinformation and disinformation circulating about elections and election security. We’re here to clear things up.

Are these elections important? Arguably, every election is important. But this one could likely change the balance of power in our state and our country.

“We do not have a government by the majority. We have a government by the majority who participate.” That truism is often — wrongly — attributed to Thomas Jefferson. But the statement remains true that you can’t change anything unless you choose to participate in the process. We’re asking you to participate here: submit any and all questions about taking part in this year's elections by clicking on the button on the prompt.

You can also text your questions to us! Just text KOSU to 855-670-1777 and follow the prompts to submit a question about participating in the midterm elections.

With help from our partners at America Amplified, we’ll answer the questions online, on the air and on social media. We’ll send the answers directly to you as well. If you share your contact information, we may even reach out personally. We can’t do this without you!