@kahn-on-tumblr / kahn-on-tumblr.tumblr.com
are u fucking kidding me hey kids following me please make sure yall are voting in this fuckin midterm jesus louisus (with all due respect, of course)
REMEMBER THAT THIS COULD BE LIFE OR DEATH
FUCKING VOTE
…y’know, if you’re not one of those overachievers who’s already mailed in a ballot or whatever. 😉
Learn more about how to vote here (Vote411.org).
BIG NEWS IN TEXAS!!!!! Over the 10-day early voting period 4 MILLION votes were cast! This is 84% of the total votes casted in the 2014 midterms!!! Oh, and Beto O’Rourke is now even with Ted Cruz in the polls so get out and VOTE BETO FOR U.S. SENATE ON TUESDAY!!!!!!!!
FLIP TEXAS BLUE TO DESTROY REPUBLICANS
Seeing some people on Tumblr still bitching about how it’s too late for voting and the only thing that will fix things is revolution.
How about you fucking vote anyway? It’s not going to seriously cut into your “sitting on the couch waiting for a revolution to start” time.
There’s no “none of the above” option here. You want a revolution, fine, but there’s still little shit to do in the meantime.
You can vote AND protest. They’re not exclusive. Hell, you can even protest the person you voted for when they fuck up. You’re not signing a blood oath with your ballot. But a desire for an ideologically pure candidate or nothing only serves the status quo right now.
The effects of voting may be blunted by moneyed interests and gerrymandering and vote purging, but people fucking DIED to make sure you had THAT RIGHT. Failing to vote because you don’t have an ideologically pure option on the ballot isn’t really all that different from boomers and right wingers saying “things could be worse, stop fucking whining”. It’s rationalizing preemptive failure and never changing. Please vote. Yes, it’s not a panacea, but it’s all we’ve got. Don’t give up. Your vote is valuable and desperately needed.
strategy not philosophy
This was not the post that was scheduled. But it was one that spoke to the moment. If you’re in the US, please vote.
Full post, with footnotes and whatnot, here. Books here. Patreon here. Art notes after the cut.
How is that renowned Republican brand working for you? The pictures above are a reminder of past and ongoing Republican actions and inaction so that people will remember them when they get ready to vote.
Go check your registration and make sure you haven’t been purged: https://iwillvote.com.
[Text of Tweet: George Takei: If you are turned away at the polls because your name is not on the register, don’t walk away. Say this: I REQUEST A PROVISIONAL BALLOT AS REQUIRED BY LAW.
Don’t let them steal your vote]
Additional info:
“Provisional Ballot Laws are laws that require a provisional ballot upon verficiation of the idenity of the voter if a voter fails to present proper identification at the polls or when registering before voter registration deadlines.”
Copied from facebook (source: John Young)
Poll worker here! Let’s talk about this “I DEMAND A PROVISIONAL BALLOT AS PROVIDED BY LAW” thing.
== TL:DR; Yes, provisional ballots are important! And yes, you should absolutely ask for one if you need to. But there’s a couple of things to try first. A provisional ballot is a last resort. ==
It’s very common for voters to come up to the “check-in” desk, and not be found in the poll book. Some non-nefarious reasons why that might be the case:
1) The poll worker doesn’t understand how to spell your name. 2) You’re not in the right precinct (this happens ALLLL the time) 3) New married name? 4) You’re a college student, and you are registered, but you’re registered at home.
Here’s my recommendation for what to do: * Make sure the poll worker is looking in the right spot (the book will be right in front of you; you can help find your name.) * Mention your home address to the poll worker. THey may very well immediately say something like “Oh! Yes, you should be voting in the cafeteria. Here in the GYM, we are your next precinct over.” * Ask politely to speak to someone to verify your status with the county. They will get on the phone with county folks, who will look you up in their BIG COMPUTER.
The steps above will, eight times out of ten, change you from the scary status of “Huh? you don’t exist!” to “Oh, right! Okay, here you go, voter!”
If that doesn’t work, ask firmly and politely for a provisional ballot. If you say “AS PROVIDED BY LAWWWWW”, you will only get an eye-roll from a tired and hungry poll-worker. But hey, you do you – it really IS the law.
If you don’t get satisfaction, all is not lost. Step outside the precinct and call the ACLU, and they will send someone over to have some FIRM WORDS with the Judge of Elections.
How do I know? I’ve had ACLU lawyers sent to talk to me during an election: “Hey, we heard that you were turning voters away!” they said.
I wasn’t, but I DID NOT MIND having someone smart and informed come to check on what was up. The ACLU counsel was smart, engaged, and knew the rules. Had I been trying some crap, this person would have SHUT. IT. DOWN.
So, the BOTTOM bottom line is: 1) Provisional ballots are a last resort. You can read up on them; they’re definitely riskier than a full, “real” ballot. You want to vote at your proper precinct as your first choice. 2) Don’t panic if you’re not in the book. Are you in the right place? 3) If you decide you do need a provisional, be firm, polite, and persistent. There’s no “secret phrase” that’s going to make us poll workers hiss with dismay: “CURSESSSSSSS! They know about the provisionalssssss!” 4) But do stick up for yourself! And if you don’t get what you want, call it in! There’s LOTS of folks to help!
all those senators voting to have kavanaugh be supreme court justice like….. you guys are really trying hard not to be re-elected huh
“i don’t like either candidate so i won’t vote” what are you thinking, if enough people wuss out we’re going to have President None Of The Above? hey we’re counting the votes and ten percent of voters stayed home and jerked it to their own ideological purity, guess we just won’t have a president and all the executive level decisions will be made by a magic 8-ball for the next 4 years
i wrote this 2 years ago and – yeah. look, let’s just learn, ok? midterms coming up, pull up your big citizen pants and go do the thing.
Alabama: OCT.22rd
Alaska: OCT. 7th
Arizona: OCT. 9th
Arkansas: OCT. 9th
California: OCT. 22rd
Colorado: Election day.
Connecticut: OCT. 30th
Delaware: OCT. 13th
D.C: OCT. 16th
Florida: OCT. 9th
Georgia: OCT. 9th
Hawaii: OCT. 9th
Idaho: OCT. 12th
Illinois: OCT. 9th
Indiana: OCT. 9th
Iowa: OCT. 27th
Kansas: OCT. 16th
Kentucky: OCT. 9th
Louisiana: NOV. 17th
Maine: OCT. 16th
Maryland: OCT. 16th
Massachusetts: OCT. 17th
Michigan: OCT. 9th
Minnesota: OCT. 16th
Mississippi: OCT. 9th
Missouri: OCT. 10th
Montana: OCT. 9th
Nebraska: OCT. 19th
Nevada: OCT. 9th
New Hampshire: NOV. 6th
New Jersey: OCT. 16th
New Mexico: OCT. 9th
New York: OCT. 12th
North Carolina: OCT. 12th
North Dakota: Election Day.
Ohio: OCT. 9th
Oklahoma: OCT. 12th
Oregon: OCT. 16th
Pennsylvania: OCT. 9th
Rhode Island: OCT. 7th
South Carolina: OCT. 9th
South Dakota: OCT. 22rd
Tennessee: OCT. 9th
Texas: OCT. 9th
Utah: OCT. 7th
Vermont: Election Day.
Virginia: OCT. 15th
Washington: OCT. 8th
West Virginia: OCT. 16th
Wisconsin: OCT. 17th
Wyoming: OCT. 22rd
Please register online if you aren’t already. Check your registration and your friends. Lots of people don’t have much time left to register! Don’t wait until the last minute!
Memes are all very good, but to get the assholes out, you have to VOTE.
Calling all my fellow Americans. VOTE!
Wyoming is a big state, yet it is the least populous state in the Union.
Wyoming only has 3 legislators: 2 Senators and a Congressperson. It is also one of the reddest, most conservative states in the Union. All 3 seats are taken up by hardline, Trump supporting Republicans.
We have Senator John Barrasso (@SenJohnBarrasso on Twitter).
He looks alright, but he is a climate change denying homophobe that gets paid big bucks by fossil fuel companies. He’s also Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.
He is up for re-election this year.
I know what you’re asking. It’s probably some variant of
Here’s who’s running for the Senate seat.
Please meet, Gary Trauner.
He’s somewhat moderate as far as Democrats go, but that’s probably what could win him a seat.
He’s astonishingly progressive even on gun rights!
Gary Trauner (@TraunerForWY on Twitter) is only taking small donations, so he’s up against a lot of PAC money to get his message out. The bright side is that because Wyoming is small in population, every dollar ($$$) means more.
If you’re a US citizen you can donate any amount you can up to $2,700 (not entirely correct on that, but it doesn’t matter. We’re millenials and GenZers. We ain’t got that kind of money) at this link! If the link is broken, here’s the URL. (https://secure.actblue.com/donate/trauner)
You may not be able to vote for him, but any money counts to help change the Senate. #BlueWave
😘💕❤💛💚💙💜🏳️🌈🏳️🌈♻️😙
While I’m on a politics kick, a rant:
In the GOP, the loudest voices are older far-right conservatives. They’re the ones who keep elected officials running scared, from state government on up.
It’s not because they’re too good for voting. It’s because they do vote. That group of Republicans (aka most of them) will often primary representatives who don’t toe the line, whatever the line in those particular districts may be. And then they turn out in droves for any Republican candidate in the general. By and large, GOP politicians don’t have to worry about Republicans not voting, unless a candidate is utterly repugnant on Republican terms (and I do mean ‘utterly’). They have to worry about Republicans voting for someone else, while simultaneously being able to depend on them vs centrists and liberals in the general.
So you end up with a wide swath of GOP officials who are either a) trying to seem ultra-conservative to defend themselves against primary attacks, or b) genuinely so, usually as the result of having out-primaried someone who was what went for moderate among Republicans.
moral of the story: turn out for midterms and primaries!
And not just for 2018! Forever. Make a plan, every fall, to find out what kinds of elections are going on and when you can vote for them, and what time and how you’re going to get there and do it. Find out where the League of Women Voters post their Voting Guide for your city. (They do specific ones for every election and ask every candidate why they think that they, specifically, will do the best job at the role. They are nonpartisan, which means you can display their work everywhere, but they also make it very easy to distinguish between, say, new candidates vying in your local primary for Circuit Judge Slot Eight.)
Vote every single time. Vote as a civic duty. Vote to keep our freedoms free. Vote for Supreme Court slots. Vote for, yes, the lesser of whichever two evils you are faced with. Vote with an eye to perfection being the enemy of good: vote to make sure good triumphs.
Vote unironically, honestly, and without pretending that your vote doesn’t matter because it does. Vote dependably, so that politicians will act like your vote is worth courting.
Vote while you can, because if we stop, we will find that we are no longer able to. Honor the people who fought and died for your right to vote.
Use it.
If Democrats take the House, their current ranking member of the Financial Services Committee becomes the chair of the committee, and has the power to subpoena Trump’s bank records. That member is Maxine Waters. Vote.
What this means: Trump will be able to install a 40-something year old ultra-conservative judge on the Supreme Court who will be able to steer this country to the hard right for the next 30-40 years and there will be nothing anyone can do about it.
Not for apathy and not for fucking purity politics. Because THIS is what happens when you do.
As of April, 59% of U.S. adults who are eligible to vote are Gen Xers, Millennials or “post-Millennials.” Yet if past midterm election turnout patterns hold true, these younger Americans are unlikely to cast the majority of votes this November.
Time to break the mold! This year, everyone votes!
The only (peaceful) way to keep Trump and the Republicans in check, is to vote.
If you’re not voting against these people then you’re voting for them. You can’t bitch about what Trump is doing to this country if you’re not even attempting to do something about it.
listen i say this every time i see a voting post, but if there’s a barrier that keeps you from physically voting (like, you go to college in a different place than your permanent address, you have work/school, you’re home with kids, you’re disabled, etc) YOU CAN GET A MAIL IN BALLOT.
It’s called “absentee voting”, and over half of states don’t even require any sort of documentation for you to get one. You can literally just. Request one. And then you can vote by mail ahead of time, saving yourself So. Much. Stress.
Oregon has mail in ballots for everyone, and we consistently have high voter turn out, which is why I spread this info, every chance I can.
Note: Also, technically your employer has to give you a couple hours off on election day if you’re working more than a certain number of hours, but losing paid hours isn’t an option for a lot of people. So get on that absentee request!
Register: turbovote.org Check your registration: headcount.org/verify-voter-registration/ More info: usa.gov/voting
