#early Voting

[whenweallvote]

Welcome back to another edition of the Good, the Bad, the Ugly. Take a moment to catch up on the most recent news in voting rights! 👉🏾🗞️

If our vote wasn’t powerful, there wouldn’t be so many attempts to take it away from us. Register to vote now at WeAll.Vote/register, and get ready to make your voice heard on November 5th!

[reasonsforhope]

For all the concern in recent years that U.S. democracy is on the brink, in danger or under threat, a report out Tuesday offers a glimmer of good news for American voters worried that casting a ballot will be difficult in 2024.

Put simply, the new data shows that voting in America has gotten easier over the past two decades. More voters have the ability to cast a ballot before Election Day, with the majority of U.S. states now offering some form of early in-person voting and mail voting to all voters.

"Although we often talk in a partisan context about voter fraud and voter suppression and whether voters have access to the ballot, the reality is, over the past 25 years, we've greatly increased the convenience of voting for almost all Americans," said David Becker, the founder and executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research (CEIR), which authored the new report...

The data shows that, despite real efforts by some Republican-led legislatures to restrict access at the margins, the trend in the U.S. since 2000 has been toward making it easier to vote: Nearly 97% of voting-age American citizens now live in states that offer the option to vote before Election Day.

"The lies about early voting, the lies about voting machines and efforts in some state legislatures to roll back some of the election integrity and convenience measures that have evolved over the last several decades, those efforts almost all failed," Becker said. "In almost every single state, voters can choose to vote when they want to."

Forty-six states and Washington, D.C., offer some form of early in-person voting, the report tallied, and 37 of those jurisdictions also offer mail voting to all voters without requiring an excuse...

In 2000

In 2024

Infographic via NPR. If you go to the article, you can watch an animation of this map that shows voting availability in every election since 2000.

There are some political trends that show up in the data. Of the 14 states that don't offer mail voting to all voters, for instance, 12 have Republican-led legislatures.

-via NPR, March 19, 2024. Article continues below.

But maybe the more striking trends are geographic. Every single state in the western U.S. has offered some form of early and mail voting to all voters since 2004, according to the data. And those states span the political spectrum, from conservative Idaho to liberal California.

"It's really hard to talk about partisanship around this issue because historically there just hasn't been much," Mann said. "We've seen voting by mail and early in-person voting supported by Republican legislatures, Democratic legislatures, Republican governors, Democratic governors. We see voters in both parties use both methods." ...

In 2020, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts all made changes to make voting more easily accessible, which have since partially or fully become permanent. Delaware is currently embroiled in a legal fight over whether it can implement early and mail voting changes this election cycle as well.

The South, with its history of slavery and Jim Crow laws, has long lagged behind when it comes to voting access. The CEIR data shows that, although some states have slowly started expanding options for voters, generally it is still the most difficult region for voters to cast a ballot.

As options nationwide have become more widely available, voters have also responded by taking advantage.

In the 2000 election, 86% of voters voted at a polling place on Election Day, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

In 2020, during the pandemic, that number dropped to less than 31% of voters. It went back up in 2022, to roughly half of the electorate, but was still in line with the two-decade trend toward more ballots being cast early.

...in reality, Becker says, more voting options actually make elections more secure and less susceptible to malicious activity or even human error.

"If there were a problem, if there were a cyber event, if there were a malfunction, if there were bad weather, if there were traffic, if there were was a power outage, you could think of all kinds of circumstances. ... The more you spread voting out over a series of days and over multiple modes, the less likely it's going to impact voters," he said...

-via NPR, March 19, 2024

[plannersandwords]

Tick Tock!

42 days until we vote for MVP Kamala Harris to become president.

27 days until early voting if you live in Texas.

Last day to register to vote in Texas.... 10/7/24

[sleepycatmama]

Early voting - why it's so important!

So we have had a LOT of discussion as to why it's so important to vote. Please, plan to vote! Register if you haven't! If you have, check your registration to make sure it's still active.

What I haven't seen anyone talking about is early voting and why it can be SO important. I ALWAYS do early voting, and I'd urge you to do so as well.

As of July 2024, forty-seven states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands offer early in-person voting to all voters (this includes states with all-mail elections). Three states—Alabama, Mississippi and New Hampshire—do not offer early in-person voting, though they may provide options for eligible absentee voters.   (https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-campaigns/early-in-person-voting)

This shows you the details for your state. Go look it up!

Now, what's such a big deal about voting early? Why not just vote on election day, lots of people are doing that, you can be part of the big excitement, right?

I'm here to tell you why not. The biggest reason, IMO, is that *SOMETHING CAN GO WRONG*. For many people, something *will* go wrong. What will it be? I have NO idea. Maybe your car won't start. Maybe you trip on the way down the stairs and break your ankle. Maybe your kid starts vomiting all over you. If you're one of the Childless Cat Ladies who are going to save the country, maybe your cat starts vomiting all over you. Maybe it turns out you're wrong about your polling location, or that idiot that ran the red light t-bones your bus. Fill in your own imaginative disaster here. Things Happen.

If you go to vote on Nov 5th, and that disaster happens? Your vote is lost. If you went in to vote on the 3rd day of early voting, say, then well darn, you aren't voting today after all, but hey, let's try again on Thursday, k? Isn't that better?

The other reason I recommend early voting is that I'm REALLY hoping we're going to get a fantastic turnout this election. Remember, the decisions are made by those who show up! And when we have a good turnout, there will be polling locations with huge long lines. There will be the struggle of can these people manage to stay in line all day so that they can vote? Can they get parking close enough? Can the polling location actually get everybody through? Every person that goes and does early voting is one less person in that line on Nov 5th. And that will make it easier for ALL of us to get our vote in.

Please look into early voting, and urge your family and friends to do the same.

[tomorrowusa]

Just 71 days until Election Day.

The continuing spread of early voting and postal voting over the past decade has moved up the crucial period when people will be making choices. 47 states plus DC have some form of early voting. Pennsylvania, for example, has early voting 50 days before Election Day. So becoming active in a campaign is something which shouldn't be put off.

We need to identify solid Democratic and leaning Democratic voters so we can get them to vote. Some voters may need transportation or other assistance which we can then provide. We can't afford to lose a single friendly voter.

It's not too early to look into volunteer opportunities to get out the vote.

Volunteer | Kamala Harris for President

[allallestodo]

NEW YORK TIMES

[dicapiito]

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Republican Brian Kemp, who is running for Georgia Governor and sharing the Republican ticket with Herschel Walker, has implemented extremist policies and laws like signing legislation that restricts access to voting. Stacey Abrams, the Democratic nominee for Georgia Governor, encourages Georgia voters to cast votes early to counteract Kemp’s voter suppression tactics. "I would argue that anyone looking at the totality of Mr. Kemp's history, they know who he is, and they know what he's done," Abrams tells Joy Reid.

[anthony-usa-today]

[writing-with-olive]

So as we're heading into the American primaries, now is a super good time to see if you're registered to vote. Remember: even if you've been registered in the past, it's possible you've been removed from the registry without being notified. Go check.

Also, now's a really good time to put into your calendar when the relevant dates are for voting. If you plan on voting for election day, this link lists when that is in your state.

Note that voter ID laws may have changed since last time you voted. This map by ballotpedia shows the requirements by state. These rules may be different in the event that you are showing up to register and vote at the same time.

If you're unhappy with all of the options, remember that voting is not the only form of civic engagement you can engage in - getting engaged in your local community is still very much an option that is on the table and is effective. Voting and community organizing are not mutually exclusive acts. While the presidential race is the most prominent it is not the only race that's happening, and that local races that will affect your life far more directly are also on the ballot. Go vote.

[azeutreciathewicked]

Tell your future self to vote

Hey you, American voter.

You're probably feeling pretty excited right now, huh? Things look cool and shiny and hopeful.

That's great - it's great to feel happy and excited and to ride the wave of crowd enthusiasm. It's infectious.

But it's not going to last forever. There are going to be down days, hard days, frustrating days. Maybe you struggle with mental illness like a lot of us, so some days will just be shit days because.

Do yourself a favor: write a letter to future you. Write the letter for the day you will vote. Maybe you get to do early voting, or mail-in voting. Or you'll go in person (you have a plan to get to the polls, right? And to bring some friends and family along to vote too? Good). In that letter, write down how great you feel now. How hopeful. How excited. How great it feels to see so many people across the country coming together. How it feels like we can and will win this, and win with a mandate. Maybe you're old enough to have been excited about Barack Obama -- remind your future self of that. Of the mandate that was delivered.

And then, when a down day comes, especially if it's closer to the election, to the day when you need to fill in that bubble (those bubbles - vote the whole ballot!), pull the lever, or do whatever it is to do your civic duty, read that letter. Remind yourself of how you felt when things were looking good.

Because feelings are contagious. And it's so very easy to get sucked into emotional spirals by others around you, by people on social media.

We have to safeguard against that. We have to make a plan to help us fight the next wave of despair - because it's coming. We can't stop the next wave of negative feelings, but we can take steps to protect ourselves against it.

We HAVE to keep doing the work, no matter how we feel. We can let ourselves get complacent in a sea of good feelings and forget about doing the work. And we can't succumb to despair and give up on doing the work. The work needs to get done regardless of how we feel or how happy the people around us are.

Please. I'm so happy for all the people around me who are happy, truly (as happy as Spock when Kirk and McCoy are happy). But I've also been watching a lot of friends spiral into extremely dangerous levels of despair over other difficult things lately. And the emotional contagion is so very very dangerous.

So use it while we have it - use that good energy to make a plan, to set up protections for the difficult days that are ahead. As of this writing, we have 87 days until the election. A lot can happen in that time. We have to stay the course to win.

Let's do this.

[merrychristmooose]

Are you going on Tuesday morning, afternoon, or evening?

[rosielindy]

I chose the Republican ballot because we can do that here in Indiana then vote however we want in the November election. There are three offices I was mainly interested in voting on especially the governor. There’s a certain individual I would love to see not make it through the primary, so I voted for a candidate who says he supports legalization of medical marijuana and would consider recreational. My hope is that the only Democrat candidate will win in November, Jennifer McCormick. Get out and vote! 

[originalleftist]

Wonderful News From Virginia!

High turnout generally=good results for Democrats!

Its daunting to realize that we're actually here, now- people are already voting. We have so little time left to make a difference, to save our country.

But early voting numbers substantially exceeding 2020 is a VERY good sign!

[allallestodo]

LiNK