To the editor:

To vote on Aug. 23, about two months away, you need to be registered to vote at least a month in advance of the primary election.

There is an November election this year as well.

To vote in the primary you must be 18 and registered by July 25. Florida is a closed primary state. To vote in the partisan primaries, you must pick a party. (Your Republican senator has about six Republicans plus Democrats Charlie Crist and Val Deming running in the primary to unseat him).

Lee County has a web site where you can register, request a mail ballot, update your address or change your party affiliation. To register by email: www.lee.vote or call 239-LEE-VOTE (533-8683) to get instructions and a voter registration form mailed to you. You will find the instructions much easier than IKEA do-it-yourself instructions. But you can also get help from League of Women Voters, your librarian or the county registrar.

If you are a Republican, interested in demonstrating your displeasure with the Republican party in the Senate filibustering opposition to safe gun storage laws, background checks for new gun owners, and red flag laws allowing temporary removal of weapons from the home of those in a mental health crisis; you can change your party affiliation from Independent or Republican to Democrat before the August primary. There are only two parties in the Senate, and only one party holding up sensible gun safety laws. If you choose to be part of the solution; preventing the next mass school shootings, you may have to choose to stop being affiliated with the problem.

Ellen Starbird

Cape Coral