But please, please, please, if you are eligible to vote in the U.S., make sure you’re registered this year.
Midterms matter.
Elections that can tip the balance of state legislatures are happening in MANY states, and it will take substantial voter turnout by progressives and democrats to win those elections (thanks to districts redrawn to benefit conservatives in power BY those conservatives in power). State legislatures make state laws, like the ones regarding abortion that are taking aim at the Supreme Court this summer.
Research who’s running.
Not familiar with the candidates? Check with a newspaper or two in your state. There are good, local journalists who often provide write-ups on the list of candidates as election season approaches.
Then, most importantly, vote. Make your voice heard. Or someone else will decide your future for you.
Fighting the sense that nothing will make a difference. Claim your rights.
“In Unity There is Strength”
In the wake of the Voting Rights Act, these voter crusades were nonpartisan efforts to increase voter registration and education. Instead of endorsing candidates, the campaigns sought to increase Black citizens’ sense of empowerment, and encourage participation in the democratic process.
““The power of the people is at the Ballot Box –Vote.”
Top image: SCLC pamphlet courtesy Social Welfare History Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries
Bottom image: Crusade for Voters pamphlet courtesy Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries
September 22nd is National Voter Registration Day, a nonpartisan civic holiday celebrating our democracy. If you haven’t yet taken the opportunity, why not register today?
As some have pointed out in the reblogs, Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Minnesota and Wyoming have election day (aka same-day) registration. Also the online vs mail registration deadlines may be different. Here are details by state
You can go to your voter registrar and turn it in. If you mail it, it must be postmarked today. You can find the address and contact information for your county’s voter registrar here.
We are not telling you who or what to vote for. But we are asking that ALL of our eligible followers and participants, wherever you live, registerandvote in your local and national elections.
Voting is your right.
Not everyone has the right or ability to vote. Vote for those who don’t. Don’t forget that others have made sacrifices so that you could vote today.
Your vote matters.
Votes decide real policies that affect real people’s lives. Some of the most recent elections have been decided on a razor thin margin. Your vote really does make a difference.
Your vote shapes your local community.
We don’t just vote for the leaders of our countries. We vote for who is in charge of our local schools, our local towns, and so on. These races can be especially close. You can have a direct impact on where you live. Local politicians are also easier to access and responsive to citizen concerns. Local politicians also become state politicians become national politicians. You can shape who rises by voting.
We live in a global society.
Even if we live in different countries, your vote affects me. My vote affects you. And you can’t get out of this one by not voting because-
Elections are decided by who shows up to vote.
We all play a role in the outcome of each election. If we all vote, those in office are accountable to all of usandnot just to a few. If we stay home, we let a few people make decisions for the rest of us. Those aren’t usually the people who have our best interests at heart.
Voting is an important tool for building the world we want to see. So is getting your friends and family to vote. By voting yourself, you make it more likely that they will too.
If you live in the U.S.
There is an an election on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. Go to vote.orgtoregisteror to ensure you are still registered to vote. Many states require you to register days or weeks before election day. Don’t wait. Register today.
Do not assume you are registered to vote in this election because you have voted in the past; voter rolls are sometimes updated without your knowledge. Check today. Help your friends and relatives check their registration too.
Usevote.org to make your voting plan today. (U.S.)
A voting plan includeshow you’ll vote, when you’ll vote, where you’ll vote, what you’ll need to vote (ID, a ride, to request a ballot, childcare, etc.) and who you’ll bring to vote.
If you plan on voting by mail, request your ballot as soon as possible- today if you can. The Postal Service is experiencing delays. It’s vital that you receive your ballot on time and can return it on time. Once again, see vote.org for more information.
If you are planning on voting in person and you can do so, please vote early.Voting early will reduce lines and crowding on Election Day. It will also give you “wiggle room,” so if something prevents you from voting when you planned, you have another chance.
If you live in the U.S. and need assistance figuring out whether you are eligible to vote, how to vote, problem-solving barriers to voting, and so on, and you have not been successful using vote.org, @graciecatfamilyband is volunteering to help. Contact her. (No hate or political arguments, please. She’s just here to help get out the vote and to help you exercise your right. Preference given to followers of/participants in this blog and mutuals of HanLeia mods.)
If you live outside of the U.S.
Here are some links to register to vote. If you want additional links added, message us and we’d be happy to include them! If there are upcoming elections you want us to highlight, please do the same. We are also interested in other countries’ Get Out the Vote efforts.
We, the mods at @hanleiasecretsanta, each commit to checking our registration and making a plan to vote in our upcoming elections. Please join us today!
I feel like this would be a slippery slope towards making it illegal for people to choose to not vote.
that’s already how it is in australia
That’s just so fucked up. :( Do certain medical conditions exempt you?
?????? why is it be fucked up to have compulsory voting? that’s the way it is in most democratic countries? it’s a part of being a citizen, like paying taxes and obeying speed limits? the fine for not voting is only like $50 and because of the compulsory voting law, our country bends over backwards to make it accessible: it’s always on a weekend, lasts most of the day, and is set up at schools and community centers so there’s one within easy reach of almost everybody. you can also mail your ballot or vote early if you’ll be out of the country on the day. like, IT’S EASY TO VOTE, and the penalty isn’t even that ridiculous. i don’t understand why the usa doesn’t have this, except obviously it would make it harder to literally stop minorities from voting.
I think we Americans tend to forget that a lot of other countries don’t actively work to make it harder to vote.
Adding to this here, in Australia you don’t have to vote. Or, more precisely, there’s no way they can tell if you ruined your ballot. You have to turn up, get your name marked off, but you can put a line through the ballot if you don’t think any of the candidates are worth voting for. Or do this:
Or this:
Or this:
You have get your name crossed off (if you don’t want to wear the fine), but you don’t have to make your vote counted if you’re opposed to it.
And it is so, so easy to vote. Stuck at work or on holidays? That’s fine. Do a postal vote. Stuck in hospital? That’s fine. They’ll go to you. Stuck in an old people’s home and can’t get around? Again, they’ll go to you. It’s amazing to me that it’s so hard for so many Americans to actually vote. If you make it compulsory, than at least the government is obligated to provide you with the means to vote.
And look, I get it. Sometimes I don’t want to vote either. But I suck it up, I walk three minutes down the street, and I hope that this year they’re selling lamingtons again. Oh, and I buy a democracy sausage, which, even if all the candidates suck, makes the effort of turning up pretty worthwhile.
ALSO, you can see even on the fucked up ballots that you NUMBER CANDIDATES IN ORDER OF PREFERENCE. There’s no need to calculate whether I would be throwing away my vote on the candidate that I most agree with if they’re not from a major party. I can say, I want that independent person to get in, but if not them, give me Big Party A, and if not them, that minor party person is still better that Big Party B, and I’m not giving any preference to the Lunatic Fringe Party.
Our system certainly has some issues still, but I can show up to somewhere nearby, line up for a few minutes (if at all), vote exactly in line with my values (on paper, leaving a paper trail that can be recounted), and then buy a sausage and some home made cupcakes on my way out.
A country’s voting system matters a hell of a lot and every citizen deserves one that makes it easy to vote and results in a government that is representational and accountable.
And by the way, one time I had a bad asthma flare-up on Election Day and didn’t make it to my polling station. I got my fine in the mail, I filled out the form explaining why I couldn’t vote, no more fine. I would rather have, you know, expressed my preference for who should run my country, but they were cool with the fact that I couldn’t do it that day.
“oh no, what if people actually have to participate in picking the government officials who will impact their lives” jesus christ
For the last time, for everyone who still doesn’t understand: not voting is not a tool of resistance, it’s a tool of surrender.
This post is the last in a series about in-person early/absentee voting. Early Voting start dates are in the bold headers. Early Voting end dates are in parentheses next to the state name. An asterisk or star (*) means that the state has Early Voting Same-Day Voter Registration. This means that you can register to vote and vote in person at your early voting location, during the Early Voting period. Please note that your state may also have Election Day Same-Day Voter Registration, which I did not include in this post, to avoid confusion. Please click on the state name to find your early voting location and more information. I used several resources in developing this post: The League of Women Voters’Vote411,Ballotpedia,Vote.org, and the U.S. Vote Foundation. View the first posthere. View the second post here.
Virgin Islands: Monday, October 5, 2020-Sunday, October 25, 2020: 9:00 AM-3:00 PM
This post is the last in a series about voter registration deadlines for the 2020 U.S. General Election. To read the first post, clickhere. To see the second post, click here. The embedded links will take you to voter registration applications and more information. Please hover over the text in parentheses for the embedded links, since not all embedded links are underlined text. A star, or asterisk (*), means the state has a later registration deadline for a certain registration method. For example, Minnesota allows you to register in-person on Election Day, Tuesday, November 3. This is also called Same Day Voter Registration. This post was developed usingBallotpedia and The League of Women Voters’Vote411.org.
Guam* (Same Day Voter Registration: in-person during Early Voting: until 6:00 P.M. on Friday, October 23, 2020; mail: contact Guam Election Commission)
Utah* (in-person,mail: received, online: by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, October 23, 2020) (Same Day Voter Registration: in-person during Early Voting Period (Tuesday, October 20- Friday, October 30, 2020, or on Election Day: Tuesday, November 3, 2020)
Saturday, October 24:
Iowa* (in-person: by 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 24, 2020; mail: received, online) (Same Day Voter Registration: in-person at polling place on Election Day: Tuesday November 3, 2020
Colorado* (in-person,mail: received, online) (in-person: Same Day Voter Registration: During Early Voting Period: Monday, October 19-Monday, November 2, 2020, or until 7:00 PM on Election Day: Tuesday, November 3, 2020)
Montana* (mail: postmarked) (in-person: Same Day Voter Registration: During Early Voting Period: October 5-Monday, November 2, 2020, or on Election Day: Tuesday, November 3, 2020)
Washington* (mail, includes other languages: received, online) (in-person: Same Day Voter Registration: During the Early Voting Period: October 16-Tuesday, November 3, 2020, or on Election Day: Tuesday, November 3, 2020)
Nevada* (online) (in-person: Same Day Voter Registration: During the Early Voting Period: October 17-Friday, October 30, 2020, or on Election Day: Tuesday, November 3, 2020)
Joe Biden on Twitter: “Nebraska — today is your last day to register to vote online and by mail. Head to https://t.co/K5rrtCjL7O to get registered before it’s too late.” / Twitter
Local governments control almost 2 trillion dollars in municipal spending (from YOUR TAXES), and yet, only 1 in 4 voters actively engages in the elections that will decide where that money goes in their towns and cities. Doesn’t add up, fam!
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Study the down ballot candidates with a friend, and #FFingVote. #Kick2020InTheBallots // @attndotcom
Unh uh. 2020 is not about to take voting away from us, too. Time to make your plan. ______ Freeform x @attndotcom’s got you covered on all things voting during a pandemic, starting with how to vote from home.
