#Boards of Election

[never-was-has-been]

!Get Out The Vote ALL 50 States!

USE These links to find YOUR STATE’S Election Board. Reply to my Tumblr messages if any of these links Fail.

PLEASE Reblog & share to other sites OFTEN!

Alabama https://myinfo.alabamavotes.gov/

Alaska https://voterregistration.alaska.gov/

Arizona https://voter.azsos.gov/VoterView/Home.do

Arkansas No State registration page. Commissioners by County. http://www.arkansas.gov/sbec/election-commissioner

California https://voterstatus.sos.ca.gov/

Colorado https://www.coloradosos.gov/pubs/elections/main.html?menuheaders=5

Connecticut https://voterregistration.ct.gov/OLVR/welcome.do

D.C. https://www.dcboe.org/Voters/Register-To-Vote/Register-to-Vote/

Delaware https://ivote.de.gov/voterlogin.aspx

Florida https://registration.elections.myflorida.com/CheckVoterStatus

Georgia https://registertovote.sos.ga.gov/GAOLVR/welcome.do#no-back-button

Hawaii https://olvr.hawaii.gov/

Idaho https://idahovotes.gov/

Illinois https://ova.elections.il.gov/RegistrationLookup.aspx

Indiana https://www.rockthevote.org/voting-information/indiana/

Iowa https://sos.iowa.gov/elections/voterreg/regtovote/search.aspx

Kansas https://myvoteinfo.voteks.org/VoterView

Kentucky https://vrsws.sos.ky.gov/VIC/

Louisiana https://voterportal.sos.la.gov/VoterRegistration

Maine https://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/voter-info/index.html

Maryland https://voterservices.elections.maryland.gov/VoterSearch

Massachusetts https://www.sec.state.ma.us/VoterRegistrationSearch/MyVoterRegStatus.aspx

Michigan https://www.michigan.gov/sos/elections

Minnesota https://mnvotes.sos.state.mn.us/VoterStatus.aspx

Mississippi https://www.msegov.com/sos/voter_registration/amiregistered/Search

Missouri https://s1.sos.mo.gov/elections/VoterLookup/

Montana https://app.mt.gov/voterinfo/

Nebraska https://www.votercheck.necvr.ne.gov/VoterView/

Nevada https://www.nvsos.gov/votersearch/

New Hampshire https://sos.nh.gov/elections/information/notices/voter-registration-motor-vehicle-law-jointly-issued-faqs/

New Jersey http://www.njelections.org/

New Mexico https://voterportal.servis.sos.state.nm.us/wheretovote.aspx?&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

New York https://voterlookup.elections.ny.gov/

North Carolina https://vt.ncsbe.gov/RegLkup/

North Dakota https://vip.sos.nd.gov/PortalListDetails.aspx?ptlhPKID=51&ptlPKID=7

Ohio https://voterlookup.ohiosos.gov/voterlookup.aspx

Oklahoma https://oklahoma.gov/elections/ovp.html

Oregon https://sos.oregon.gov/voting-elections/Pages/default.aspx

Pennsylvania https://www.pavoterservices.pa.gov/pages/voterregistrationstatus.aspx

Rhode Island https://vote.sos.ri.gov/

South Carolina https://info.scvotes.sc.gov/eng/voterinquiry/VoterInformationRequest.aspx?PageMode=VoterInfo

South Dakota https://vip.sdsos.gov/vipLogin.aspx

Tennessee https://tnmap.tn.gov/voterlookup/

Texas https://teamrv-mvp.sos.texas.gov/MVP/mvp.do

Utah https://vote.utah.gov

Vermont https://sos.vermont.gov/elections/voters/registration/

Virginia https://vote.elections.virginia.gov/VoterInformation

Washington https://weiapplets.sos.wa.gov/MyVote/#/login

West Virginia https://apps.sos.wv.gov/elections/Voter/AmIRegisteredToVote updated 9-20-2024

Wisconsin https://myvote.wi.gov/en-us/FindMyPollingPlace

Wyoming http://soswy.state.wy.us/Elections/RegisteringToVote.aspx

!USE These links to find YOUR STATE’S Election Board Website! !!!BE AWARE THAT SOME STATES CHANGE THEIR Election Board Policies on Registration, etc.!!! !STAY INFORMED! PLEASE Re-Blog & Share this post on other Sites OFTEN!  Reply to my Tumblr messages if any of these links Fail. <------------------------------>

[fly-chicken]

A Pragmatic and surprisingly comforting perspective about the Trump 2nd Presidency from the ACLU

***Apologies if this is how you found out the 2024 election results***

Blacked out part is my name.

I’m not going to let this make me give up. It’s disheartening, and today I will wallow, probably tomorrow too

AND

I will continue to do my part in my community to spread the activism and promote change for the world I want to live in. I want to change the world AND help with the dishes.

And I won’t let an orange pit stain be what stops me from trying to be better.

A link to donate to the ACLU if able and inclined. I know I am

[never-was-has-been]

Get Out The Vote ALL 50 States

USE These links to find YOUR STATE’S Election Board link.

Reply to my Tumblr messages if any of these links Fail.

PLEASE Re-Blog (and Retweet) OFTEN! *****************************************

Alabama https://myinfo.alabamavotes.gov/VoterView/Home.do

Alaska https://voterregistration.alaska.gov/

Arizona https://voter.azsos.gov/VoterView/Home.do

Arkansas No registration page. Commissioners by County http://www.arkansas.gov/sbec/election-commissioner

California https://voterstatus.sos.ca.gov/

Colorado https://www.coloradosos.gov/pubs/elections/main.html?menuheaders=5

Connecticut https://voterregistration.ct.gov/OLVR/welcome.do

D.C. https://www.dcboe.org/Voters/Register-To-Vote/Register-to-Vote/

Delaware https://ivote.de.gov/voterlogin.aspx

Florida https://registration.elections.myflorida.com/CheckVoterStatus

Georgia https://registertovote.sos.ga.gov/GAOLVR/welcome.do#no-back-button

Hawaii https://olvr.hawaii.gov/

Idaho https://idahovotes.gov/

Illinois https://ova.elections.il.gov/RegistrationLookup.aspx

Indiana https://www.rockthevote.org/voting-information/indiana/

Iowa https://sos.iowa.gov/elections/voterreg/regtovote/search.aspx

Kansas https://myvoteinfo.voteks.org/VoterView

Kentucky https://vrsws.sos.ky.gov/VIC/

Louisiana https://voterportal.sos.la.gov/VoterRegistration

Maine https://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/voter-info/index.html

Maryland https://voterservices.elections.maryland.gov/VoterSearch

Massachusetts https://www.sec.state.ma.us/VoterRegistrationSearch/MyVoterRegStatus.aspx

Michigan https://www.michigan.gov/sos/elections

Minnesota https://mnvotes.sos.state.mn.us/VoterStatus.aspx

Mississippi https://www.msegov.com/sos/voter_registration/amiregistered/Search

Missouri https://s1.sos.mo.gov/elections/VoterLookup/

Montana https://app.mt.gov/voterinfo/

Nebraska https://www.votercheck.necvr.ne.gov/VoterView/

Nevada https://www.nvsos.gov/votersearch/

New Hampshire https://sos.nh.gov/elections/information/notices/voter-registration-motor-vehicle-law-jointly-issued-faqs/

New Jersey http://www.njelections.org/

New Mexico https://voterportal.servis.sos.state.nm.us/wheretovote.aspx?&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

New York https://voterlookup.elections.ny.gov/

North Carolina https://vt.ncsbe.gov/RegLkup/

North Dakota https://vip.sos.nd.gov/PortalListDetails.aspx?ptlhPKID=51&ptlPKID=7

Ohio https://voterlookup.ohiosos.gov/voterlookup.aspx

Oklahoma https://oklahoma.gov/elections/ovp.html

Oregon https://sos.oregon.gov/voting-elections/Pages/default.aspx

Pennsylvania https://www.pavoterservices.pa.gov/pages/voterregistrationstatus.aspx

Rhode Island https://vote.sos.ri.gov/

South Carolina https://info.scvotes.sc.gov/eng/voterinquiry/VoterInformationRequest.aspx?PageMode=VoterInfo

South Dakota https://vip.sdsos.gov/vipLogin.aspx

Tennessee https://tnmap.tn.gov/voterlookup/

Texas https://teamrv-mvp.sos.texas.gov/MVP/mvp.do

Utah https://vote.utah.gov

Vermont https://sos.vermont.gov/elections/voters/registration/

Virginia https://vote.elections.virginia.gov/VoterInformation

Washington https://weiapplets.sos.wa.gov/MyVote/#/login

West Virginia https://services.sos.wv.gov/Elections/Voter/AmIRegisteredToVote

Wisconsin https://myvote.wi.gov/en-us/FindMyPollingPlace

Wyoming http://soswy.state.wy.us/Elections/RegisteringToVote.aspx

USE These links to find YOUR STATE’S Election Board link. PLEASE Re-Blog OFTEN! 

Reply to my Tumblr messages if any of these links Fail.

[batboyblog]

There are over 17,000 school board seats up for election this November

Over the last few years Republicans have used local school boards to ban books, stop the teaching of sex ed, the teaching of black history, and to ban any mention of LGBT people in schools. It is amazingly easy to reach out to local school board candidates and ask them, directly, about their views on subjects, I've done it and always gotten an answer. So find out who's running in your community and what they believe, pay attention, don't just fill out the top of your ballot and call it good, vote all the way down, and if you can't find out, ask directly.

[potofsoup]

Guess who's excited to get their ballot in the mail tomorrow? Me! So I slapped together a quick comic, as well as a map based off of this and this. A list of when same day registration is available is at the bottom of this article.

But also: wow, early voting stuff is so confusing! For example, I get my ballot in the mail tomorrow, and I can immediately mail it back. But if I want to drop it off in person, I need to either go to a special ballot drop box by city hall, or wait for early in-person voting sites to open, which isn't until Oct 22nd for my state.

Or like, early voting in Louisiana is apparently from Oct 16 to Oct 29th? And then there's a week of no voting, and then polls open again on Nov 5th? Or like how the only day you can register and then immediately vote is Oct 26th?

Anyway, best way to figure out the info for your area is to check your state and county's election website. I've found usvotefoundation.org to have clear fact sheets for each state (including ID requirements, polling location finders, as well as direct links to state election websites): https://www.usvotefoundation.org/state-voter-information . You can also jump to each state's election websites via usa.gov, or by searching directly, though some websites are more confusing than others.

Happy voting!

Oh, and here's the voter registration deadlines map from last time, in case you haven't registered and want to register. Oct 7th is the last day for a bunch of states!

[ceilidhtransing]

If you hear Republicans speak to other Republicans, you'll hear a lot of them say that they really don't like Trump for whatever reason (many of them aren't fans of the felony convictions, his personal manner, his business dealings, his family life, or whatever else) but that they'll still be voting for him because he'll get them closer to what they ultimately want. They're pragmatic; they don't demand purity in their candidate. They recognise him as their strategic choice so they'll set aside the issues they have with him and vote as a bloc. That's what makes them effective at getting their way. That's how they win elections.

And boy I wish we had more of that attitude on the left. Imagine what we could get done.

[lady-raziel]

I think that’s the thing, isn’t it? It’s proven once again that it is easier for people to sacrifice their own vulnerable neighbors or tell them they wish those neighbors didn’t exist at all because it is easier to allow a man that represents the worst of humanity to have ultimate power than tolerate an imperfect woman who they believe is not appealing to them specifically.

[never-was-has-been]

Get Out The Vote ALL 50 States

USE These links to find YOUR STATE’s Election Board link.

Reply to my Tumblr messages if any of these links Fail.

PLEASE Re-Blog (and Retweet) OFTEN! *****************************************

Alabama https://myinfo.alabamavotes.gov/VoterView/Home.do

Alaska https://voterregistration.alaska.gov/

Arizona https://voter.azsos.gov/VoterView/Home.do

Arkansas No registration page. Commissioners by County http://www.arkansas.gov/sbec/election-commissioner

California https://voterstatus.sos.ca.gov/

Colorado https://www.coloradosos.gov/pubs/elections/main.html?menuheaders=5

Connecticut https://voterregistration.ct.gov/OLVR/welcome.do

D.C. https://www.dcboe.org/Voters/Register-To-Vote/Register-to-Vote/

Delaware https://ivote.de.gov/voterlogin.aspx

Florida https://registration.elections.myflorida.com/CheckVoterStatus

Georgia https://registertovote.sos.ga.gov/GAOLVR/welcome.do#no-back-button

Hawaii https://olvr.hawaii.gov/

Idaho https://idahovotes.gov/

Illinois https://ova.elections.il.gov/RegistrationLookup.aspx

Indiana https://www.rockthevote.org/voting-information/indiana/

Iowa https://sos.iowa.gov/elections/voterreg/regtovote/search.aspx

Kansas https://myvoteinfo.voteks.org/VoterView

Kentucky https://vrsws.sos.ky.gov/VIC/

Louisiana https://voterportal.sos.la.gov/VoterRegistration

Maine https://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/voter-info/index.html

Maryland https://voterservices.elections.maryland.gov/VoterSearch

Massachusetts https://www.sec.state.ma.us/VoterRegistrationSearch/MyVoterRegStatus.aspx

Michigan https://www.michigan.gov/sos/elections

Minnesota https://mnvotes.sos.state.mn.us/VoterStatus.aspx

Mississippi https://www.msegov.com/sos/voter_registration/amiregistered/Search

Missouri https://s1.sos.mo.gov/elections/VoterLookup/

Montana https://app.mt.gov/voterinfo/

Nebraska https://www.votercheck.necvr.ne.gov/VoterView/

Nevada https://www.nvsos.gov/votersearch/

New Hampshire https://sos.nh.gov/elections/information/notices/voter-registration-motor-vehicle-law-jointly-issued-faqs/

New Jersey http://www.njelections.org/

New Mexico https://voterportal.servis.sos.state.nm.us/wheretovote.aspx?&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

New York https://voterlookup.elections.ny.gov/

North Carolina https://vt.ncsbe.gov/RegLkup/

North Dakota https://vip.sos.nd.gov/PortalListDetails.aspx?ptlhPKID=51&ptlPKID=7

Ohio https://voterlookup.ohiosos.gov/voterlookup.aspx

Oklahoma https://oklahoma.gov/elections/ovp.html

Oregon https://sos.oregon.gov/voting-elections/Pages/default.aspx

Pennsylvania https://www.pavoterservices.pa.gov/pages/voterregistrationstatus.aspx

Rhode Island https://vote.sos.ri.gov/

South Carolina https://info.scvotes.sc.gov/eng/voterinquiry/VoterInformationRequest.aspx?PageMode=VoterInfo

South Dakota https://vip.sdsos.gov/vipLogin.aspx

Tennessee https://tnmap.tn.gov/voterlookup/

Texas https://teamrv-mvp.sos.texas.gov/MVP/mvp.do

Utah https://vote.utah.gov

Vermont https://sos.vermont.gov/elections/voters/registration/

Virginia https://vote.elections.virginia.gov/VoterInformation

Washington https://weiapplets.sos.wa.gov/MyVote/#/login

West Virginia https://services.sos.wv.gov/Elections/Voter/AmIRegisteredToVote

Wisconsin https://myvote.wi.gov/en-us/FindMyPollingPlace

Wyoming http://soswy.state.wy.us/Elections/RegisteringToVote.aspx

USE These links to find YOUR STATE’s Election Board link. PLEASE Re-Blog OFTEN! 

Reply to my Tumblr messages if any of these links Fail.

Vote Blue in 2024💙🌊

[transformativeworks]

OTW's Elections Committee announces the 4 candidates for the 2024 board of directors. 2 seats are up for election in 2024. Read their bios and platforms by visiting: https://otw-news.org/3fb7byf8

English • português europeu • Tiếng Việt

[gwydionmisha]

Democrats sue Georgia over election rules that could 'invite chaos'

[contemplatingoutlander]

That the Editorial Board of the premier U.S. newspaper of record is finally warning about Donald Trump is significant. As such, this is a gift 🎁 link so that those who want to read the entire editorial can do so, even if they don't subscribe to The New York Times. Below are some excerpts:

As president, [Trump] wielded power carelessly and often cruelly and put his ego and his personal needs above the interests of his country. Now, as he campaigns again, his worst impulses remain as strong as ever — encouraging violence and lawlessness, exploiting fear and hate for political gain, undermining the rule of law and the Constitution, applauding dictators — and are escalating as he tries to regain power. He plots retribution, intent on eluding the institutional, legal and bureaucratic restraints that put limits on him in his first term. Our purpose at the start of the new year, therefore, is to sound a warning. Mr. Trump does not offer voters anything resembling a normal option of Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal, big government or small. He confronts America with a far more fateful choice: between the continuance of the United States as a nation dedicated to “the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity” and a man who has proudly shown open disdain for the law and the protections and ideals of the Constitution. [...] It is instructive in the aftermath of that administration to listen to the judgments of some of these officials on the president they served. John Kelly, a chief of staff to Mr. Trump, called him the “most flawed person I’ve ever met,” someone who could not understand why Americans admired those who sacrificed their lives in combat. Bill Barr, who served as attorney general, and Mark Esper, a former defense secretary, both said Mr. Trump repeatedly put his own interests over those of the country. Even the most loyal and conservative of them all, Vice President Mike Pence, who made the stand that helped provoke Mr. Trump and his followers to insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, saw through the man: “On that day, President Trump also demanded that I choose between him and the Constitution,” he said.

[See more under the cut.]

There will not be people like these in the White House should Mr. Trump be re-elected. The former president has no interest in being restrained, and he has surrounded himself with people who want to institutionalize the MAGA doctrine. According to reporting by the Times reporters Maggie Haberman, Charlie Savage and Jonathan Swan, Mr. Trump and his ideological allies have been planning for a second Trump term for many months already. Under the name Project 2025, one coalition of right-wing organizations has produced a thick handbook and recruited thousands of potential appointees in preparation for an all-out assault on the structures of American government and the democratic institutions that acted as checks on Mr. Trump’s power. [...] Mr. Trump has made clear his conviction that only “losers” accept legal, institutional or even constitutional constraints. He has promised vengeance against his political opponents, whom he has called “vermin” and threatened with execution. This is particularly disturbing at a time of heightened concern about political violence, with threats increasing against elected officials of both parties. He has repeatedly demonstrated a deep disdain for the First Amendment and the basic principles of democracy, chief among them the right to freely express peaceful dissent from those in power without fear of retaliation, and he has made no secret of his readiness to expand the powers of the presidency, including the deployment of the military and the Justice Department, to have his way. [...] Re-electing Mr. Trump would present serious dangers to our Republic and to the world. This is a time not to sit out but instead to re-engage. We appeal to Americans to set aside their political differences, grievances and party affiliations and to contemplate — as families, as parishes, as councils and clubs and as individuals — the real magnitude of the choice they will make in November.

I encourage people to use the above gift link and read the entire article.

[edited]

[never-was-has-been]

It's time to Get Out The Vote for both 2023 and 2024

Get Out The Vote ALL 50 States

USE These links to find YOUR STATE’s Election Board link.

Reply to my Tumblr messages if any of these links Fail.

PLEASE Re-Blog (and Retweet) OFTEN!  *****************************************

Alabama

https://myinfo.alabamavotes.gov/VoterView/Home.do

Alaska https://voterregistration.alaska.gov/

Arizona https://voter.azsos.gov/VoterView/Home.do

Arkansas No registration page. Commissioners by County http://www.arkansas.gov/sbec/election-commissioner

California https://voterstatus.sos.ca.gov/

Colorado https://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/elections/vote/VoterHome.html?menuheaders=5

Connecticut https://voterregistration.ct.gov/OLVR/welcome.do

D.C. https://www.dcboe.org/Voters/Register-To-Vote/Check-Voter-Registration-Status

Delaware https://ivote.de.gov/voterlogin.aspx

Florida https://registration.elections.myflorida.com/CheckVoterStatus

Georgia https://registertovote.sos.ga.gov/GAOLVR/welcome.do#no-back-button

Hawaii https://olvr.hawaii.gov/

Idaho https://idahovotes.gov/

Illinois https://ova.elections.il.gov/RegistrationLookup.aspx

Indiana https://www.rockthevote.org/voting-information/indiana/

Iowa https://sos.iowa.gov/elections/voterreg/regtovote/search.aspx

Kansas https://myvoteinfo.voteks.org/VoterView

Kentucky https://vrsws.sos.ky.gov/VIC/

Louisiana https://voterportal.sos.la.gov/VoterRegistration

Maine https://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/voter-info/index.html

Maryland https://voterservices.elections.maryland.gov/VoterSearch

Massachusetts https://www.sec.state.ma.us/VoterRegistrationSearch/MyVoterRegStatus.aspx

Michigan https://webapps.sos.state.mi.us/MVIC/

Minnesota https://mnvotes.sos.state.mn.us/VoterStatus.aspx

Mississippi https://www.msegov.com/sos/voter_registration/amiregistered/Search

Missouri https://s1.sos.mo.gov/elections/VoterLookup/

Montana https://app.mt.gov/voterinfo/

Nebraska https://www.votercheck.necvr.ne.gov/VoterView/

Nevada https://www.nvsos.gov/votersearch/

New Hampshire https://sos.nh.gov/elections/information/notices/voter-registration-motor-vehicle-law-jointly-issued-faqs/

New Jersey http://www.njelections.org/

New Mexico https://voterportal.servis.sos.state.nm.us/wheretovote.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

New York https://voterlookup.elections.ny.gov/

North Carolina https://vt.ncsbe.gov/RegLkup/

North Dakota https://vip.sos.nd.gov/PortalListDetails.aspx?ptlhPKID=51&ptlPKID=7

Ohio https://voterlookup.ohiosos.gov/voterlookup.aspx

Oklahoma https://oklahoma.gov/elections.html

Oregon https://secure.sos.state.or.us/orestar/vr/showVoterSearch.do?lang=eng&source=SOS

Pennsylvania https://www.pavoterservices.pa.gov/pages/voterregistrationstatus.aspx

Rhode Island https://vote.sos.ri.gov/

South Carolina https://info.scvotes.sc.gov/eng/voterinquiry/VoterInformationRequest.aspx?PageMode=VoterInfo

South Dakota https://vip.sdsos.gov/vipLogin.aspx

Tennessee https://tnmap.tn.gov/voterlookup/

Texas https://teamrv-mvp.sos.texas.gov/MVP/mvp.do

Utah https://vote.utah.gov

Vermont https://sos.vermont.gov/elections/voters/registration/

Virginia https://vote.elections.virginia.gov/VoterInformation

Washington https://weiapplets.sos.wa.gov/MyVote/#/login

West Virginia https://services.sos.wv.gov/Elections/Voter/AmIRegisteredToVote

Wisconsin https://myvote.wi.gov/en-us/FindMyPollingPlace

Wyoming http://soswy.state.wy.us/Elections/RegisteringToVote.aspx

USE These links to find YOUR STATE’s Election Board link. PLEASE Re-Blog OFTEN! 

Reply to my Tumblr messages if any of these links Fail.

[mywitchcultblr]

A republican politician trying to get into AO3 board beware!! Don't let her get into the OTW board!

Yeah no thank you, conservatives have been stripping away women rights and LGBTQIA+ rights around the world and now this? Can't we have one nice thing in life? Also her takes with the racism is just 😑🤦‍♀️

This kind of a candidate will be like "well we are concerned about how media affect teens, oh noooo there's 'abusive' stories" next thing you know NSFW and queer fanfic/media will be banned

[pumpkinpaix]

Regarding #EndOTWRacism’s summaries of 2023 OTW Board election candidate positions

Before I begin, let me say now that while I am a volunteer with the OTW, my views are personal and should not be taken as any kind of official statement from the org, its leadership, or other volunteers, especially not the candidates in question. My focus here is on the Asian candidates for obvious reasons, but this post is not meant as endorsement or disavowal of any of the candidates, whose bios and platforms can all be read here.

Do not take this as an excuse harass the mods running EOTWR. I cannot make myself clearer.

--

I am making this post to express my extreme disappointment with End OTW Racism’s post purporting to summarize the platforms of the candidates for the upcoming Board elections. It is no longer rebloggable, but can be read here.

The way that the candidates with Asian names were spoken of is deeply insulting when compared with how candidates with English-language names were discussed. Asian candidates had their platforms misrepresented, their expertise downplayed, and their lived experiences reduced down to “bringing an international presence” to the board, which was then further caveated with, “diversity alone is not going to solve the issue of racist harassment currently allowed in the OTW’s policies and enforcement practice”. While it is true that diversity alone is not a solution, it’s pretty offensive to essentially have “remember! Just because they aren’t white doesn’t mean you should vote for them!” tacked on to one of the Asian candidates’ platforms. 

End OTW Racism seems more concerned with whether or not candidates used the buzzwords they wanted to hear rather than with how racism is discussed holistically within the statements. While I can appreciate that EOTWR has a specific agenda, to say things like, “[s]he does not mention racism, racist harassment, or hiring a DEI consultant in her platform, so outside the outreach and support she mentions, there is not enough for us to conclude that these would be priorities for her” regarding Zixin Z.’s position, directly following the statement, “[s]he also mentions the need for outreach towards non-English-speaking fans and has a desire to provide support to volunteers from minority groups” is fucking laughable, especially after the initial mistake of stating that Zixin Z. only wanted to do more outreach to Chinese-speaking fans. Again, I understand that people make mistakes and that this mistake has since been corrected, but I hope it prompts some reflection on the sort of biases that would lead to such a mistake in the first place. It may have been completely innocuous, but in charged discussions about racism, please understand that it gives an impression that is difficult to shake. I do thank you for not trying to hide that this happened. 

Why is Anh P.’s lack of discussion on TOS/PAC a point against her, while Zixin Z.’s years of experience on PAC, her role as a mod on Weibo, and her background in nonprofits don’t even warrant a mention? For that matter, why did none of the Asian candidates’ skills or experience warrant mention? Qiao C. and Zixin Z. have both been volunteers with the organization for several years now, and Anh P. has years of moderation and volunteer experience elsewhere prior to her work with the OTW.

It is so fucking frustrating that despite each one of these candidates specifically talking about the need for diverse voices, they had their platforms essentially passed over because they didn’t use the right words, and it is particularly fucking aggravating to see that EOTWR will use Chinese issues as props when trying to press OTW leadership on the racism that occurs within the org, but then completely fail to connect the dots on why these candidates are running because the wrong language was used. Zixin Z. is one of the Weibo mods, for fuck’s sake. 

The entire post feels like an exercise in virtue signalling, from every time it was brought up that a candidate did not provide pronouns in their platform statements, despite every one of them having pronouns provided in their bios (why mention this detail at all? You could have simply used the pronouns), to what felt like willful obliviousness to the anti-racism stances in the Asian candidates’ platforms. It feels like the concern starts and ends with racism in Anglophone terms, on Anglophone terms.

I can respect the driving ideas behind EOTWR, even if I disagree with the way that EOTWR pursues their goals. I do believe that we want the same things in the end, and therefore chose not to interact with the many posts I have seen about the protest. However, I saw the summary post and could not let it pass without speaking.

For a protest group supposedly dedicated to ending racism in the OTW, this felt incredibly hypocritical, conscious bias or not. In my most charitable frame of mind, I can see this as misjudging and overcorrecting to ensure that there was no favoritism shown to the obvious non-white candidates lest EOTWR be accused of tokenizing– again, it is true, that diversity in and of itself is not a solution to racism. 

In my least charitable and most bitter frame of mind, I feel inclined to wonder if EOTWR, much like the OTW itself, is uncomfortable with the lack of influence they could exude over an international candidate. It would be much, much easier to push their agenda forward with more culturally familiar candidates, particularly white ones. Guilt and public scrutiny are powerful weapons and easy to wield against those with perceived privilege in our current atmosphere, often to the detriment of the actual discussion at hand in my experience. I know that’s cynical. It’s hard not to be. (For clarity's sake: I do not know the other candidates' races. This is a hypothetical.)

This isn’t a demand for an apology. I think we fetishize the capital-A Apology to the point where I find them sort of meaningless unless they are given freely. I don’t need EOTWR to agree with me, and I don’t really want to keep talking about it. Rather, I would prefer that EOTWR take action to do better as they continue in their campaign. What that action is is their decision. If they truly mean to stand against racism in the OTW, then I’d like them to demonstrate it.

--

DO NOT HARASS EOTWR MODS. I AM FUCKING SERIOUS ABOUT THIS.

[aroceu]

what's been happening at the otw?

so it seems that on twitter and possibly tumblr, people have been hearing things about the otw board/election stuff without really knowing what's going on. a lot of the different issues get conflated and confused with each other, and things that aren't related get connected while things that are related don't. i'm making this post to make things clear, since i've been following some of it (primarily the otw board stuff) from the outside so that people know exactly what is going on, and to reduce the spread of misinformation.

a lot of this information comes from this dreamwidth journal, which has been documenting many testimonies and receipts, for full context.

an earlier timeline of the csem and insensitive treatment of policy and abuse committee volunteers is documented at @221loislane, on this post.

the election season

every year — for anyone out of touch with how the organization of transformative works (otw) politics go, yes this occurs every year as seats can be held for 3 years maximum but resignations happen, leading to staggering — the org has an election season for the main board of directors. they oversee all of the otw's fan projects, including ao3 and fanlore. there are 7 seats, one of whom is the president (kari dayton).

if a chair resigns, then their seat may remain empty to the end of the term or to the next election season, depending on when they resign. if they resign early, a runner-up from the previous election may take their seat.

elections generally take place every summer, but the actual changing of hands occurs in in the fall. board directors are known by their real life name; this has always been the policy. prior to this year, when candidacies were announced, it was with their full name. however, due to the csem attack emails that were targeting volunteers last may, it seems that they added a layer of protection for the candidates this year, and initially announced them with their first name and last initial.

this election season, there were originally 4 chairs that were going to be vacant and needed to be filled. there were also originally 7 candidates, some of whom applied for candidacy last minute. one of the candidates withdrew early (mid june), so this came down to 6.

in order to vote in an election, you must donate a minimum $10usd prior to a certain date in june (this year being june 30) and tick the box that says you want to become a member.

the republican candidate

on july 24, people started spreading the fact that one of the otw board candidates, audrey richards, is a republican. this is true: she ran for a republican seat for the us house of reps in 2022 (and prior to that, as an independent in 2020.) this can be seen on her ballotpedia. we know that she is the same audrey richards, because her ballotpedia page also connects her with the otw.

let me be clear: this is still in line with org policy, in terms of her real name getting released. their full names were going to be released to the public at some point, and as far as i know the org did not state that they would hide their full names until after the election.

many people, especially americans on the ao3 (full disclosure: i am one of the americans on ao3) were very wary about this, because the republican party has been endorsing increasingly dangerous laws and policies along the lines of fascism and transphobia. audrey running as a republican does not necessarily mean that she agrees with these values; however, because she, as a white woman, felt comfortable enough to align herself with a party that does, many lgbt people and people of color had every right to have reservations about her. her statements about ukraine (disagreeing with biden sending arms) and her involvement with "children and screens" was also brought under scrutiny: see this post by discluded. (i am not endorsing discluded's post; it simply cites some concerns with audrey)

due to claims of harassment (i am also not saying whether or not they occurred), she resigned from candidacy and from the org as a whole on july 25, declaring "congrats on the witch hunt." (x)

the otw then released a statement dissuading people from harassing board candidates. this was not taken well, as they were completely silent last year regarding unsubstantiated rumors about tiffany g, a previous election candidate who's chinese, with views that many were not comfortable with, to the point of saying that she might be a spy for the chinese government. this was spread by chinese- and english-speaking users alike. the otw was silent about this. however, this year, many volunteers internally have said that the otw's silence towards harassment is damning, and in any case, even in audrey's, they should speak up against it, resulting in their public statement.

reprimanding a volunteer of color

also on july 24, coincidentally enough, a volunteer of color made a post about receiving a letter about constructive corrective action procedure (ccap) from the tag wrangling team, due to making volunteers uncomfortable by speaking up about racism in the org.

the tl;dr of why they received the letter boiled down to:

talking about the org's racism in a ~certain way~ in public channels where volunteers could not leave made some vols uncomfortable

sharing internal chatlogs and correspondences to the public. EXCEPT THE THINGS SHE SHARED WERE HER OWN MESSAGES. and before july 25, the only OTHER thing she had shared to the public was the otw's direction on how volunteers should approach getting csem, from the spam attack last year, on a comment in a news post - which is an email that ALL VOLUNTEERS GOT. because none of that was public! no one knew what the org's approach to the spam attack in order to protect the volunteers was! she disclosed it so randoms who are not volunteers would know!

"outing" a volunteer, except she DIDN'T, because the volunteer had outed THEMSELVES in the chat program previously and repeatedly, then changed their icon at some point to indicate they didn't want to link the identities anymore. but there had never been a formal announcement or request not to link the identities, and who was supposed to take an icon change as an indicator of that, so IN THE CHAT PROGRAM (not in public!) kutti made a reference to something that person (under their real name) said in public (under their fannish handle/icon) and got reprimanded for it

emyn a has since made a post about how kutti's general behavior in the chat has made him uncomfortable and was one of the reasons why he withdrew his candidacy, and that he supported the fact that she received the ccap. he stated that alex tischer's abrasiveness (see below) was probably because of where alex is from, in europe. he also said that kutti outed a withdrawn candidate (probably audrey) in the chat program, which was not public information prior to his post. the rest of his claims are presently not substantiated, and most of what i have read about his accusations boil down to tone policing.

EDIT: kutti clarified that emyn got her mixed up with another volunteer of color in one of these claims. she says that she has never talked about audrey either internally nor externally, and does not know what other handles she would link audrey to. she also specified that emyn's accusation of her using "provocative descriptors, such as 'disgusting'" was in context of her criticizing the org's handling of azarias — a volunteer who handled many csem tickets last year, then got their account suspended without warning, and then got implicated for distribution in an org-wide letter, which, yeah, is pretty fucking disgusting!

the alex problem

i mentioned the ccap above because kutti references it in her post about alex tischer here, and when i linked to it on twitter people were confused as to what ccap meant and why it was significant. and i don't think kutti's treatment should go ignored either, because i think it signifies a larger problem that the org has.

and one of these very glaring problems is alex tischer. alex tischer was on the board this year, being their last year of their current term. they were on the board previously too, from 2015-2018. tischer has been called a "missing stair" by multiple volunteers, and a huge problem in the org's function.

more specifically, and as confirmed by a former volunteer i talked to on an ao3 post (wherein they corrected me for conflating two incidents), some incidents that occurred with tischer were:

in 2020, when mainland chinese vols were encouraged to do more recruitment for volunteers on weibo (a mainland china site), the otw had added two new language tags on ao3: tai-gi (taiwanese) and cantonese. the vols were also encouraged to endorse this — not specifically by alex — on weibo. china and taiwan have VERY high geopolitical tensions, and the vols endorsing the addition of the taiwanese language on a mainland chinese site could potentially put them in danger. when they expressed this, alex had told them to "not appease a shitty government," or something along those lines — indicating alex did not care for their safety in a heavily censored country, over sticking it to the man or whatever. (alex is white/german and lives in the uk.)

in 2023, separate from this issue, the otw had decided to shut down the transformative works weibo page without consulting the chinese volunteers. the chinese vols were very pissed and protested, first in english. and then, when their concerns weren't being heard, they started in protesting in chinese. this prompted alex to reply to them, in german, "We can throw all sorts of things at each other, but if we don't agree on a lingua franca, we won't achieve much" (Wir können uns gegenseitig alle möglichen Dinge an den Kopf werfen aber wenn wir uns nicht auf eine Lingua Franca einigen erreichen wir nicht viel.) which, in my opinion, is pretty fucking irrelevant to chinese volunteers not getting their voices heard for something that they had every right to get their voice heard on, and basically told them to "speak english" when they had been speaking english previously and getting ignored!!!

a discussion from the otw slack in 2020 was leaked, wherein a black volunteer asked a question and expressed interest in knowing the diversity of the board of directors. not the diversity of all volunteers. they immediately got dogpiled on by multiple volunteers, alex included, saying that asking for such a thing could endanger the safety of volunteers (which is pretty fucking ironic considering alex's treatment of the chinese vols), the black volunteer should've backread a day's worth of chatlogs, saying that asking about diversity was chilling, etc. i cannot summarize in full how furious this chatlog makes me, so if you are capable i do recommend you to read it to see how utterly defensive everyone got at a simple question about diversity.

these things are relevant because on july 25, kutti made a post about alex — because other volunteers had been asking in the otw slack about kutti's situation, and a volunteer compared how kutti was treated, for speaking up about racism, to how alex was treated, who was consistently xenophobic and as far as anyone knew, did not receive a reprimand for it. alex then doubled down on their previous comments.

this prompted kutti's post, both to publicize this incident and to call for alex's immediate suspension.

board directors resign

there were, at the time, five chairs on board, due to the fact that two had resigned previously (heather in may 2023, jess in nov 2022; neither were replaced). after this incident, volunteers were furious and backed kutti up and also called for alex to resign, or for the other chairs to kick alex out.

two chairs in particular, antonius and natalia, were already on hiatus. they were also pressured to kick alex out, due to the fact that they were only standing chairs, not active, so volunteers wanted them to either come off hiatus and start the process to get alex out, or if they could not do their chair duties, resign. i believe the board needs a 2/3rds vote to kick someone off as a chair, which is why they were brought into the conversation — 2/5 chairs would not be enough.

on july 26, natalia did reprimand alex's behavior in the chat according to some sources. an anonymous source said that both natalia and antonius had started their resignation process prior to the alex-kutti incident; they made this public and official after/during this conversation.

on july 27, alex also said that they had resigned "yesterday." it is unclear if they only resigned from the board, or the org as a whole, considering they were still the webs chair, a tag wrangler, and on the translation and support committees.

all three board resignations were made public in an official announcement on july 27; natalia and antonius's were made first, with alex's as an add-on shortly afterward. however, as alex and antonius's spots were already outgoing, this has only opened up ONE slot for the election: a fifth one. and there are five candidates.

what happens next?

with five vacant seats and five candidates, this means that the election is uncontested. however, two of the five candidates will serve partial terms (the ones who get less votes; 2 years each), while three of the five candidates will serve full terms (3 years each.) if you've donated at least $10 to the otw in the past year, you're eligible to vote. a comprehensive schedule can be found here.

all candidate platforms/q&as can be found here in individual posts, and here as a spreadsheet.

by the way, this is not the first time most of, if not a full board has resigned almost all at once. this occurred previously in 2015, due to some of the following incidents (these may not be all of the reasons for the mass resignation, but definitely for many of them):

insanely incompetent financial handling wherein they had donations up to six figures held in paypal accounts

the removal of sanders, a candidate during that election season, because she had resigned from her role as treasurer recently, thus supposedly making her ineligible to run (candidates must have served as a volunteer in any position for 2 years), even though she was still on the dev committee. she did not resign from the candidacy herself. the election committee had objected to this but was overridden by the board. sanders is black.

a board chair had gone under a sockpuppet account during multiple candidate chats asking questions "as a concerned member," even though she was board chair, indicating a conflict of interest.

during the open board meeting in november (after the election), without warning the board decided to appoint andrea, the candidate who got the least number of votes that election year, to a spot that was vacated a whole year before. it was hard for me to find context around this situation but from what i've gathered, andrea was already friends with the present board and the newly appointed board had not yet settled in. when this was met with appropriate backlash and accusations of power grabbing, this is when the entire board at the time — minus the new elects — resigned.

i bring this up to show that the otw has never been a perfect organization — rather, it has always had its problems. i did not pay much attention to these incidents previously, but considering how the current election season has become more and more prominent on my social media, i feel that it's important for me to be in the know now, and to spread this information to others.

i am not a volunteer (although i used to be a tag wrangler for a brief time.) i am not speaking on behalf of anyone mentioned or linked in this post except for myself. i strongly believe in making an organization's policies public and for as much information to be accessible as possible, for a site that i'm an active member on and love to use. i believe in ensuring the safety, comfort, and consideration of volunteers of color. i am making this post because i believe the otw deserves to be transparent like any other organization. please feel free to share and discuss as you see fit; and if any of this information is incorrect, please let me know asap!

edit: follow-up incidents

this post by @fandomantiracism writes a detailed timeline of the mishandling of chinese volunteers (including the below incidents), and explains exactly why the environment in which otw volunteers in china must be handled with a modicum of more care than they do currently. please read it to fully understand the cvols' situation! (disclaimer: i am not affiliated with this blog.)

during the candidate chats, a chinese candidate got an extremely inappropriate question from a present chair/former or present board member, breaching on org privacy (even though kutti got a ccap for less), a clear attempt to attack the candidate by making them appear unsafe and immature, and with a lie that put their ACTUAL SAFETY at risk. see this post, and this thread on twitter

an aforementioned former volunteer detailed another incident where the treatment of chinese volunteers was severely mishandled; see here

[lunar-years]

My mom soooo wanted to vote for her children’s and grandchild’s future in this election, to the point where she’d been telling us for several months that we might have to fill in the bubbles for her down ballot and help her keep her hand steady enough to sign her name, but she was doing it. Her absentee ballot arrived literally two days after her last “good” day in hospice, and she lost her chance. So idk I’m just extra appreciative of my capacity to vote in this election and I very much do not take it for granted. Voting matters. Your voice matters. Get out there please!!!