#state ballot access

[marytfic]

Will NY disown the Hudson River Champ?

The question is. Has Robert F. Kennedy, jr., been paying New York taxes all these ten years? Or is generational family presence in the State a mark of a State Son? Tik Tok Judge. https://apnews.com/article/rfk-new-york-ballot-access-lawsuit-616e48e81203259792278fdbb0a6d0f3

[lordzannis]

perplexity will help with sources

Statewide election dates

May 21, 2024: Primary November 5, 2024: General election

[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

[walks-the-ages]

Jill Stein is now on the Ballot in 23 States!

If you are voting third party this year for a Free Palestine, please do not get fooled by tiktok scammers who have been claiming since April they have 48 state ballot access (they in fact, don't even have five states).

If you're looking to vote for a Candidate who is Anti-genocide, pro-working class, and wants to abolish the death penalty, make all education free, defund the police, and slash the military budget by 70% with remaining forces being used as engineers on Green projects instead of military incursions in other countries, please look into Jill Stein with the official Green Party!

[ghwosty]

you wanna know what's really grinding my ass about amendments 3 (legal weed) and 4 (abortion access) not passing in Florida??

Florida has the 60% rule which means amendment changes on the ballot have to reach 60% yes to pass

ya wanna know how much both got?? both got to 58% which means over half of Floridians wanted to have legal weed and expanded abortions access but bc of this dumbass law the will of the majority has actually been ignored

it is absolutely bullshit and I have been fuming about it since last night

[nando161mando]

Remember to vote for the lesser... Wait... Wtf?

[nodynasty4us]

From the July 24, 2023 item:

Most states don't matter. If the Green Party gets even 5% of the vote in California, it won't flip the state. But it is on the ballot in Wisconsin, Michigan, and North Carolina, where siphoning off even 2% from Biden could result in a Trump victory. This puts the Democrats in a bind. If they move to the left, then they can neutralize the Green Party, but lose votes to No Labels if it gets on the ballot in many states. If they move to the center, they may neutralize No Labels but lose more votes to the Green Party. Joe Biden has been around the track a couple of times so he understands the problem, but he also knows there is no easy solution (other than to try to block both No Labels and the Green Party from getting on the ballot in as many states as possible). In principle, the Republicans have the same problem. They could bleed votes to the Libertarian Party on the right and to No Labels on their left.... But the situation is not symmetric. Many Trump supporters would walk over broken glass barefoot to vote for Trump. They won't defect....

[trisscar368]

To clarify from the article: there were 20 million (currently 16 million and change) uncounted votes because the process isn’t done. Uncounted =/= unaccounted for. That number of votes aren’t missing.

Please still check that your ballot was counted. Please still get involved with curing.

20 million votes have been uncounted

Link to this Tweet here

Link to the tweet here for the image above

Link to the White house

If you need further help in a quick format, here is one, but i urge you to also add in the details for requiring an investigation, not just recount.

I know its a shitty situation and were tired but we still have to try to fight for a life that's worth living.

If you can blaze this post, GO FOR IT!!!

[justahumblememefarmer]

Putting some positivity out there about the election

Harris has raised a record amount of money from small donors after Biden dropped out, in addition to being able to access all the funds from their campaign they already had

Trump is deeply unpopular and people have already seen the chaos that 4 years of his presidency would bring. A lot of people have been energized to vote against him, even if they're not fond of Dems

Polling showed a red wave for Republicans in the 2022 midterms, and yet they only barely had control of the House, and couldn't even agree on a Speaker for a historic amount of time. Dems also increased their lead in the Senate. Historically, midterms favor the opposition party and have lower turnout, so this is a good sign for the House in 2024

Dems are fighting back in swing states. PA and GA both put in Democratic senators in the midterms

In my home state of PA, I am from Bucks County, which is a swing county for the state. Moms for Libery took over the school board and used it to attack queer students, enact book bans, and funnel money to themselves and the superintendent. At the most recent election, Dems turned out and took back every single open seat, ousting the board and superintendent. Worry about similar takeovers in surrounding school boards also increased turnout

Abortion rights are on the ballot in many states, which has been a winning issue for Dems and increased turnout

Republicans were prepared to attack a feeble old Biden who isn't the strongest speaker. I don't think they expected him to actually drop out, and they now have to put an 78 year old convicted felon up against a prosecutor

Awareness of Project 2025 and it's contents has entered the public sphere and is being much more openly discussed on the news. While Trump has insisted he has nothing to do with it, most of the authors worked in his administration and Trump has worked closely with the Heritage foundation

Feel free to add more things on this thread, but the most important thing is to get out there and VOTE

Vote for President

Vote for Senators

Vote for Congresspeople

Vote in your local elections

Vote Blue down ballot

[trendynewsnow]

US Voters Gear Up for Crucial Presidential Election

US Voters Prepare for a Pivotal Election On Tuesday, millions of American voters will head to the polls to cast their ballots in a highly anticipated election that pits presidential candidates Kamala Harris against Donald Trump. The outcome of this election is keenly awaited not just in the United States, but also across Europe, where the implications of the results are being closely…

[kachikirby]

IF YOU LIVE IN THE US, PLEASE READ THIS

Posting this from the bird app since I hope it can help people.

People have been contacting the White House directly to demand a recount, especially since there has been evidence that not every ballot has been counted and will be thrown away if it hasn't been cured.

The link to contact the White House is here!

The following screenshot comes from here!

If you need help writing something, check under the cut! I've provided a prewritten response from one of the replies!

"I am a concerned citizen, and I need you to hear me. I urge you to recount the ballots from this election and investigate election interference. Bomb threats have been called into multiple polling locations, causing some to close early. Domestic terrorists have burned ballot boxes. An unprecedented number of ballots have been rejected and require curing. There have been reports of polling officers allowing voter intimidation in and outside of polling places across the country and an estimated 20 million mail in ballots are unaccounted for. In addition, many people have reported that ballots were not counted for suspicious reasons such as signature invalidation which is information that vote counters do not have access to. These events have occurred in swing states such as Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Georgia, for instance."

Feel free to add and change what you want, this is just a base for you to work off of.

[actuallytodojewski]

vote

Alabama: https://www.sos.alabama.gov/alabama-votes/voter/register-to-vote

Alaska: https://www.elections.alaska.gov/Core/voterregistration.php

Arizona: https://azsos.gov/elections/voters

Arkansas: https://www.sos.arkansas.gov/elections/voter-information/voter-registration-information

California: https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/voter-registration

Colorado: https://www.sos.state.co.us/voter/pages/pub/olvr/findVoterReg.xhtml

Connecticut: https://portal.ct.gov/sots/election-services/voter-information/voter-registration-information

Delaware: https://elections.delaware.gov/voter/votereg.shtml

Florida: https://www.registertovoteflorida.gov/home

Georgia: https://mvp.sos.ga.gov/s/

Hawaii: https://elections.hawaii.gov/register-to-vote/registration/

Idaho: https://voteidaho.gov/voter-registration/

Illinois: https://www.elections.il.gov/votingandregistrationsystems/register.aspx

Indiana: https://indianavoters.in.gov/

Iowa: https://sos.iowa.gov/elections/voterinformation/voterregistration.html

Kansas: https://sos.ks.gov/elections/voter-registration.html

Kentucky: https://elect.ky.gov/registertovote/Pages/default.aspx

Louisiana: https://www.sos.la.gov/ElectionsAndVoting/Pages/OnlineVoterRegistration.aspx

Maine: https://registertovote.sos.maine.gov/Home

Maryland: https://elections.maryland.gov/voter_registration/index.html

Massachusetts: https://www.mass.gov/topics/voting

Michigan: https://mvic.sos.state.mi.us/

Minnesota: https://www.sos.state.mn.us/elections-voting/register-to-vote/

Mississippi: https://www.sos.ms.gov/elections-voting/voter-registration-information

Missouri: https://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/goVoteMissouri/register

Montana: https://votemt.gov/voter-registration/

Nebraska: https://www.nebraska.gov/apps-sos-voter-registration/

Nevada: https://registertovote.nv.gov/

New Hampshire: https://www.sos.nh.gov/elections/register-vote

New Jersey: https://nj.gov/state/elections/voter-registration.shtml

New Mexico: https://www.sos.nm.gov/voting-and-elections/voter-information-portal-nmvote-org/voter-registration-information/

New York: https://elections.ny.gov/register-vote

North Carolina: https://www.ncsbe.gov/registering/checking-your-registration

North Dakota: https://www.sos.nd.gov/elections/voter/voting-north-dakota

Ohio: https://www.ohiosos.gov/elections/voters/register/

Oklahoma: https://oklahoma.gov/elections/voter-registration/register-to-vote.html

Oregon: https://sos.oregon.gov/voting/Pages/registration.aspx?lang=en

Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/en/agencies/vote/voter-registration.html

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

South Carolina: https://scvotes.gov/voters/register-to-vote/

South Dakota: https://sdsos.gov/elections-voting/voting/register-to-vote/default.aspx

Tennessee: https://sos.tn.gov/elections/guides/how-to-register-to-vote

Texas: https://www.texas.gov/living-in-texas/texas-voter-registration/

Utah: https://secure.utah.gov/voterreg/index.html

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

Virginia: https://www.elections.virginia.gov/registration/

Washington: https://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/voters/voter-registration/register-vote-washington-state

West Virginia: https://ovr.sos.wv.gov/register/Landing

Wisconsin: https://myvote.wi.gov/en-us/Voter-Registration

Wyoming: https://sos.wyo.gov/Elections/State/RegisteringToVote.aspx

[Image ID: A series of screenshots from a Twitter thread by Jason Coupet / professajay.

Text begins: Man voting in Georgia is so different than in Illinois. When I lived in chicago, during early voting, I went to the local elementary school, waited in line about ten minutes, and they gave me a sheet of paper. I checked people off then I put it in the machine and left.

Not Georgia. We drove downtown because *every* other polling place had a line >90 minutes. We paid ten bucks to park. We went in the building, then emptied out pockets to go through a metal detector. We then saw a sign about where to park to get our parking validated. Inside.

We then waited in line ~80 minutes. We got to the end and we were given a form to fill out (?). We were told *not* to sign it until told. Then we were moved into a waiting room where we were given a ticket number, like when you are at the dmv.

We were told to get our IDs out and wait. We waited here for 15-20 minutes. When your number is called they took your form, did some stuff on the computer, then told you to sign the form. Then you get a little green card. You insert it into the machine.

Then you go through three or four prompts, including a very serious™️ warning about perjury, a totally necessary warning given how huge a problem stolen identity is for the purposes of voting on behalf of someone else.

You then finally vote, and after an “are you sure” prompt you get a sheet. You then have to walk the sheet over to feed it into a machine. About half of these were working.

The bottleneck was clearly the weird application and waiting room thing. There are two dozen people at a time sitting to have their stuffed checked. Think of it as regular voting except when you got there they had to run a credit check for *each person* like you need financing.

It was easier finishing my PhD paperwork. Thankful for the kind people (nearly all black women) the shepherded the processes. But man if you are poor or disabled or whatever, good luck yo. That should have been easier. We finished tho. Text ends.

Image ID: Two Black people are standing beside a city street and smiling at the camera, a man and a woman. The man has close-cropped hair and a beard. He is wearing a black hoodie that says Southside and has a sticker on his chest with a peach on it. The woman has large tortoiseshell browline glasses and long twist locs. She has a light brown leather crossbody bag, and is wearing a salmon-colored windbreaker. She also has a peach sticker on her chest, which she is pointing to. Her hand has a wedding ring. End ID]

[lordzannis]

Sign signatures

[liberaljane]

Women's Not So Distant History

This #WomensHistoryMonth, let's not forget how many of our rights were only won in recent decades, and weren’t acquired by asking nicely and waiting. We need to fight for our rights. Here's are a few examples:

📍 Before 1974's Fair Credit Opportunity Act made it illegal for financial institutions to discriminate against applicants' gender, banks could refuse women a credit card. Women won the right to open a bank account in the 1960s, but many banks still refused without a husband’s signature. This allowed men to continue to have control over women’s bank accounts. Unmarried women were often refused service by financial institutions entirely.

📍 Before 1977, sexual harassment was not considered a legal offense. That changed when a woman brought her boss to court after she refused his sexual advances and was fired. The court stated that her termination violated the 1974 Civil Rights Act, which made employment discrimination illegal.⚖️

📍 In 1969, California became the first state to pass legislation to allow no-fault divorce. Before then, divorce could only be obtained if a woman could prove that her husband had committed serious faults such as adultery. 💍By 1977, nine states had adopted no-fault divorce laws, and by late 1983, every state had but two. The last, New York, adopted a law in 2010.

📍In 1967, Kathrine Switzer, entered the Boston Marathon under the name "K.V. Switzer." At the time, the Amateur Athletics Union didn't allow women. Once discovered, staff tried to remove Switzer from the race, but she finished. AAU did not formally accept women until fall 1971.

📍 In 1972, Lillian Garland, a receptionist at a California bank, went on unpaid leave to have a baby and when she returned, her position was filled. Her lawsuit led to 1978's Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which found that discriminating against pregnant people is unlawful

📍 It wasn’t until 2016 that gay marriage was legal in all 50 states. Previously, laws varied by state, and while many states allowed for civil unions for same-sex couples, it created a separate but equal standard. In 2008, California was the first state to achieve marriage equality, only to reverse that right following a ballot initiative later that year. 

📍In 2018, Utah and Idaho were the last two states that lacked clear legislation protecting chest or breast feeding parents from obscenity laws. At the time, an Idaho congressman complained women would, "whip it out and do it anywhere,"

📍 In 1973, the Supreme Court affirmed the right to safe legal abortion in Roe v. Wade. At the time of the decision, nearly all states outlawed abortion with few exceptions. In 1965, illegal abortions made up one-sixth of all pregnancy- and childbirth-related deaths. Unfortunately after years of abortion restrictions and bans, the Supreme Court overturned Roe in 2022. Since then, 14 states have fully banned care, and another 7 severely restrict it – leaving most of the south and midwest without access. 

📍 Before 1973, women were not able to serve on a jury in all 50 states. However, this varied by state: Utah was the first state to allow women to serve jury duty in 1898. Though, by 1927, only 19 states allowed women to serve jury duty. The Civil Rights Act of 1957 gave women the right to serve on federal juries, though it wasn't until 1973 that all 50 states passed similar legislation

📍 Before 1988, women were unable to get a business loan on their own. The Women's Business Ownership Act of 1988 allowed women to get loans without a male co-signer and removed other barriers to women in business. The number of women-owned businesses increased by 31 times in the last four decades. 

Free download

📍 Before 1965, married women had no right to birth control. In Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), the Supreme Court ruled that banning the use of contraceptives violated the right to marital privacy.

📍 Before 1967, interracial couples didn’t have the right to marry. In Loving v. Virginia, the Supreme Court found that anti-miscegenation laws were unconstitutional. In 2000, Alabama was the last State to remove its anti-miscegenation laws from the books.

📍 Before 1972, unmarried women didn’t have the right to birth control. While married couples gained the right in 1967, it wasn’t until Eisenstadt v. Baird seven years later, that the Supreme Court affirmed the right to contraception for unmarried people.

📍 In 1974, the last “Ugly Laws” were repealed in Chicago. “Ugly Laws” allowed the police to arrest and jail people with visible disabilities for being seen in public. People charged with ugly laws were either charged a fine or held in jail. ‘Ugly Laws’ were a part of the late 19th century Victorian Era poor laws. 

📍 In 1976, Hawaii was the last state to lift requirements that a woman take her husband’s last name.  If a woman didn’t take her husband’s last name, employers could refuse to issue her payroll and she could be barred from voting. 

📍 It wasn’t until 1993 that marital assault became a crime in all 50 states. Historically, intercourse within marriage was regarded as a “right” of spouses. Before 1974, in all fifty U.S. states, men had legal immunity for assaults their wives. Oklahoma and North Carolina were the last to change the law in 1993.

📍  In 1990, the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) – most comprehensive disability rights legislation in U.S. history – was passed. The ADA protected disabled people from employment discrimination. Previously, an employer could refuse to hire someone just because of their disability.

📍 Before 1993, women weren’t allowed to wear pants on the Senate floor. That changed when Sen. Moseley Braun (D-IL), & Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) wore trousers - shocking the male-dominated Senate. Their fashion statement ultimately led to the dress code being clarified to allow women to wear pants. 

📍 Emergency contraception (Plan B) wasn't approved by the FDA until 1998. While many can get emergency contraception at their local drugstore, back then it required a prescription. In 2013, the FDA removed age limits & allowed retailers to stock it directly on the shelf (although many don’t).

📍  In Lawrence v. Texas (2003), the Supreme Court ruled that anti-cohabitation laws were unconstitutional. Sometimes referred to as the ‘'Living in Sin' statute, anti-cohabitation laws criminalize living with a partner if the couple is unmarried. Today, Mississippi still has laws on its books against cohabitation. 

[coridallasmultipass]

Make sure you vote tomorrow, March 5th (2024), when most states are holding their primaries!

Speaking as a Californian and my personal experience as a voter and in doing pollworking for the past couple elections...

If you got a Vote By Mail ballot, you can drop it off at any polling place/post office/ballot drop box (if it has the correct county envelope you got it with - the county will forward it to the correct county for vote counting, same as the post office). MAKE SURE YOU READ THE ENVELOPE BECAUSE YOU'LL NEED TO SIGN AND DATE THE ENVELOPE BEFORE YOU RETURN IT. (And your signature needs to resemble the one you signed when you registered.)

If you want to vote in-person, you will need to find a polling place WITHIN the county you're registered to vote in, preferrably your assigned precinct - you should check your county's website to find the location if you didn't get a notice by mail.

I don't know how every county does this, but in my county, the accessible ballot marking device has access to all the ballots in my county, which is great for people who can't find or travel to their assigned polling place during the poll hours. Each polling place only has access to pre-printed paper ballots from the precinct(s) assigned to it, which is why the accessible ballot marking device (which prints the ballot once you finish marking it) has been super important, since people tend to just go to any polling place they've heard about or used in the past. (And we DON'T have access to ANY ballots from a different county, not even on that device.)

Voting registration and vote collection is done by each county SEPARATELY, so you won't show up on a roster in another county, and they won't have the ballot you're eligible to vote on. You'd need to re-register/vote provisionally with the different county in order to vote on their ballots. (Which is why it's important to vote on the Vote By Mail ballot that was sent to you - it has all the races you're eligible to vote for, SO GO DIG IT OUT OF YOUR MAIL PILE AND VOTE ON IT, 'CAUSE THEY WERE SENT OUT IN LIKE JANUARY OR SOMETHING. THAT SHIT COST AN ABSURD AMOUNT TAX DOLLARS PER BALLOT, SO DON'T WASTE IT.)

If you haven't registered to vote yet, you can register on the same day you vote! (Again, this is for California, I don't know how other states do it.)

Again, make sure you find a place IN YOUR COUNTY, and try to vote at your assigned polling place, so your vote is counted where it matters!

TLDR: Order of importance:

1. Fill out the mail ballot that was sent to you. Take it to the post office, polling place, or official ballot drop box. It must be collected BEFORE THE POLLS CLOSE. Drop it off on your lunch break, if you need to get it in before closing time.

2. If you can't do that, go to your assigned polling place. (Check your county website.) Same importance as number 1, but you may have to wait in a line depending on what time you arrive.

3. If you can't do that, go to any polling place in the county you're registered to vote in.

4. Register/update your registration to vote. No one can be denied the right to vote at the end of the day, but if it's not with the county you're eligible to vote in, your ballot may be deemed ineligible. (I've never done anything on the ballot-counting side, so I definitely can't answer questions about that. If you're curious, you can get an answer by calling your specific county.)

Side note: do not wear any merch that has a candidate's name who's on the ballot while going to vote. This is electioneering, which is illegal. (Also includes any propositions or other items on the ballot.)

[odinsblog]

🗣️THIS IS WHAT INCLUSIVE, COMPASSIONATE DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE

Minnesota Dems enacted a raft of laws to make the state a trans refuge, and ensure people receiving trans care here can't be reached by far-right governments in places like Florida and Texas. (link)

Minnesota Dems ensured that everyone, including undocumented immigrants, can get drivers' licenses. (link)

They made public college free for the majority of Minnesota families. (link)

Minnesota Dems dropped a billion dollars into a bevy of affordable housing programs, including by creating a new state housing voucher program. (link)

Minnesota Dems massively increased funding for the state's perpetually-underfunded public defenders, which lets more public defenders be hired and existing public defenders get a salary increase. (link)

Dems raised Minnesota education spending by 10%, or about 2.3 billion. (link)

Minnesota Dems created an energy standard for 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040. (link)

Minnesota already has some of the strongest election infrastructure (and highest voter participation) in the country, but the legislature just made it stronger, with automatic registration, preregistration for minors, and easier access to absentee ballots. (link)

Minnesota Dems expanded the publicly subsidized health insurance program to undocumented immigrants. This one's interesting because it's the sort of things Dems often balk at. The governor opposed it! The legislature rolled over him and passed it anyway. (link)

Minnesota Dems expanded background checks and enacted red-flag laws, passing gun safety measures that the GOP has thwarted for years. (link)

Minnesota Dems gave the state AG the power to block the huge healthcare mergers that have slowly gobbled up the state's medical system. (link)

Minnesota Dems restored voting rights to convicted felons as soon as they leave prison. (link)

Minnesota Dems made prison phone calls free. (link)

Minnesota Dems passed new wage protection rules for the construction industry, against industry resistance. (link)

Minnesota Dems created a new sales tax to fund bus and train lines, an enormous victory for the sustainability and quality of public transit. Transit be more pleasant to ride, more frequent, and have better shelters, along more lines. (link)

They passed strict new regulations on PFAS ("forever chemicals"). (link)

Minnesota Dems passed the largest bonding bill in state history! Funding improvements to parks, colleges, water infrastructure, bridges, etc. etc. etc. (link)

They're going to build a passenger train from the Twin Cities to Duluth. (link)

I can't even find a news story about it but there's tens of millions in funding for new BRT lines, too. (link)

A wonky-but-important change: Minnesota Dems indexed the state gas tax to inflation, effectively increasing the gas tax. (link)

They actually indexed a bunch of stuff to inflation, including the state's education funding formula, which helps ensure that school spending doesn't decline over time. (link)

Minnesota Dems made hourly school workers (e.g., bus drivers and paraprofessionals) eligible for unemployment during summer break, when they're not working or getting paid. (link)

Minnesota Dems passed a bunch of labor protections for teachers, including requiring school districts to negotiate class sizes as part of union contracts. (Yet another @SydneyJordanMN special here. (link)

Minnesota Dems created a state board to govern labor standards at nursing homes. (link)

Minnesota Dems created a Prescription Drug Affordability Board, which would set price caps for high-cost pharmaceuticals. (link)

Minnesota Dems created new worker protections for Amazon warehouse workers and refinery workers. (link)

Minnesota Dems passed a digital fair repair law, which requires electronics manufacturers to make tools and parts available so that consumers can repair their electronics rather than purchase new items. (link)

Minnesota Dems made Juneteenth a state holiday. (link)

Minnesota Dems banned conversion therapy. (link)

They spent nearly a billion dollars on a variety of environmental programs, from heat pumps to reforestation. (link)

Minnesota Dems expanded protections for pregnant and nursing workers - already in place for larger employers - to almost everyone in the state. (link)

Minnesota Dems created a new child tax credit that will cut child poverty by about a quarter. (link)

Minnesota Democrats dropped a quick $50 million into homelessness prevention programs. (link)

And because the small stuff didn't get lost in the big stuff, they passed a law to prevent catalytic converter thefts. (link)

Minnesota Dems increased child care assistance. (link)

Minnesota Dems banned "captive audience meetings," where employers force employees to watch anti-union presentations. (link)

No news story yet, but Minnesota Dems forced signal priority changes to Twin Cities transit. Right now the trains have to wait at intersections for cars, which, I can say from experience, is terrible. Soon that will change.

Minnesota Dems provided the largest increase to nursing home funding in state history. (link)

They also bumped up salaries for home health workers, to help address the shortage of in-home nurses. (link)

Minnesota Dems legalized drug paraphernalia, which allows social service providers to conduct needle exchanges and address substance abuse with reduced fear of incurring legal action. (link)

Minnesota Dems banned white supremacists and extremists from police forces, capped probation at 5 years for most crimes, improved clemency, and mostly banned no-knock warrants. (link)

Minnesota Dems also laid the groundwork for a public health insurance option. (link)

I’m happy for the people of Minnesota, but as a Floridian living under Ron DeSantis & hateful Republicans, I’m also very envious tbh. We know that democracy can work, and this is a shining example of what government could be like in the hands of legislators who actually care about helping people in need, and not pursuing the GOP’s “culture wars” and suppressing the votes of BIPOC, and inflicting maximum harm on those who aren’t cis/het, white, wealthy, Christian males. BRAVO MINNESOTA. This is how you do it! And the Minnesota Dems did it with a one seat majority, so no excuses. Forget about the next election and focus on doing as much good as you can, while you still can. 👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿

👉🏿 https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1660846689450688514.html