#vote in local elections primaries and presidential

[anexperimentallife]

The US far right has been working on their plan since AT LEAST the 1960s, when I was a kid listening to evangelicals talking about their plan to take over the US, and eventually the world. It's called "Christian Dominionism," and it's a fascist ideology which goes hand in glove with the GOP's plans.

Although it was not expressed so much to the world at large, this plan was OPENLY and FREQUENTLY discussed in far right circles. We kids, if we asked about it, were told that it was "God's Will." Ask any exvangelical about it, and they'll confirm. (Part of why I know so much about these dangerous and deluded folks is I WAS ONE OF THEM in my youth.)

And where has that plan gotten them? Well, the GOP recently released a hundreds of pages long document filled with their intentions if they win--including a nationwide abortion ban and a repeal of anti-discrimination laws, among other things.

Trump has already signaled his intent to create a military dictatorship if elected, by repealing laws against using the military against US citizens on US soil sp he can deploy them against dissenters, etc., and if the GOP pick up a few more congressional seats, he can do it. The GOP has already pushed to repeal presidential term limits, and Trump has indicated he'd like to be president for life.

So I'm amazed at all the people who think withholding their vote and letting the GOP win is going to somehow fix things and "push the Dems left."

You wanna know how to push US politics leftward? You're not gonna like it, because it takes actual work beyond stomping your foot and pouting and performatively showing everyone how "pure" you are by refusing to vote.

You have to start the same way the far right did (and again, they've been OPENLY talking about and pursuing this plan since I was a kid in the 1960s, AT LEAST)--they started by getting the most extreme right wingers they possibly could into any position they could. Positions like school board member, police chief, sherrif, city prosecuter, city council member, municipal judge, mayor, governor, hell, fucking dog catcher.

They encouraged far right extremists to become police officers and military personnel and work their way up the ranks to the point at which even the famously-racist FBI reported that major city police departments across the nation were pretty much taken over by members of white supremacist organizations.

In formerly reasonable churches, right wingers pushed for the hiring and training of more and more right wing pastors and mire right-wing theology.

More affluent right-wingers bought local papers and broadcasters, and as their political power grew, they changed laws to make it easier for a single entity to control the news--until now a mere handful of entities own nearly every major media outlet in the US.

And then they used every victory as leverage for the next one, and worked their way up. I mean, there's more, like the capitalization on economic and social anxiety and their inentional exacerbation of same so they could take advantage of it, but that's intertwined with the rest.

Essentially, they got this far because they put the work in.

If the US left is going to turn things around (and if it's not already too late), we've got to do the same, but it takes RESEARCHING and PROMOTING your local and state candidates, attending city council and school board meetings, and shit like that. It's actual fucking work to fix a country.

And then, after you've done all that--and after you've shown up to primaries to try to get any non-authoritarian leftist candidate you can nominated--then you vote for the leftest folks you're able to in the general. If there are no remotely leftist candidates, you vote for the centrist or right winger who will do the least damage.

Again, that's what the US far right has been doing for decades. Taking action. Wherever possible, taking new ground, but when they couldn't do that, ceding as little ground as possible. If they couldn't win, they made damn sure to do everything in their power to try to keep actual decent human beings from winning.

Actually doing the work doesn't have the emotional satisfaction of a grand gesture, but it definitely shows who is serious about making a difference and who would rather let everything burn than sully their imagined purity by voting for anything less than perfection.

Listen, Trump is not going to end the genocide in Gaza--in fact he increased tensions between the Israeli occupation and Palestine. And the GOP will never be persuaded. Hell, they want to let Russia take Ukraine and declare open season on asylum seekers.

The Dems suck. But the GOP is far, far worse, and will do MORE damage, and kill FAR MORE innocents. And if allowed to do so, will make it even harder to change the system than it is now. They've already PUBLICLY ADMITTED that their only chance of victory is keeping people from voting. Don't play into their hands.

Under current circumstances, you know what the Dems are going to do if Biden and a bunch of other Dems lose for not being pure enough? You think they'll be all like, "Oh, no! The left sure taught us a lesson by handing the country to the GOP! We'd better shift to the left!"

No. They're going to sip champagne in their multi-million dollar mansions and have meetings about how they need to move FURTHER RIGHT to win elections, because the left doesn't vote.

And if the US becomes a military dictatorship, most of the high ranking ones will simply take their fortunes and leave.

Yup, it'd sure teach ol' Joe a lesson to force him to spend the rest of his days sipping cocktails on the Riviera.

Look beyond the single battle and think strategically. That's how the GOP keeps gaining power. And refusing to act strategically is why the left is losing. We cannot take the hill we want right now. But if we lose the hills we've already taken, we risk losing the entire goddamn war.

So fucking vote. Work to get every leftist you can in any office you can. And if you can't do that, support the one who will do the least harm.

And if it takes voting for that shitbag Biden to keep Trump and the GOP out, hold your fucking nose and pull the goddamn lever.

#rob gets political

[palant1r]

the thing about voting for president in america is that, if you have decided it is morally wrong to vote for a person who has done or will do war crimes, or who will enable injustice in office, you cannot in good conscience ever vote again. like america is and always has been a genocidal empire that literally has always existed as an imperialist illegitimate state built on conquest and exploitation. morally "pure" participation in our political system simply is not a realistic thing to strive for.

as a citizen in america, you will both suffer from the consequences of local inequality/resource injustice and reap the benefits of being a part of the imperial core. this is inevitable. this is a way in which you will be part of the political system regardless of if you purport to abstain. not voting is not a conscientious objection to the system. it is a choice to continue to exist in a system, but give up any influence you may have over it.

like, withholding your vote/voting undecided in the primaries does send a meaningful message i think. but in the general election? not voting or voting third party is functionally a vote for trump because of how low voter turnout favors republicans. this is not a moral judgement but a political fact. there is no functional practical way to be neutral in the upcoming presidential election.

sucks, right? it sucks! it absolutely sucks! for the record, i really don't like that this is how things are, and i do fully believe that america sorely needs electoral reform, because the current system is a fucking farce!

but that's how it is. that's the reality of being a political participant in the electoral process of an empire. there is legitimate positive change to be had through biden. there is even more horrible negative consequences that will result from another trump presidency.

i'm not a fan of derisive posts referring to people withholding their vote because of gaza as "single issue voters." because like. yeah, actually, it IS morally defensible to have the prevention of a genocide be a single issue.

but withholding your vote for biden for gaza's sake isn't voting against gazan genocide. it's voting to intensify it. it's voting to end any chance at american pressure being put on israel to end it in the next four years.

and i understand if voting for genocide joe makes you feel dirty. i understand if you hate him. i hate him.

but being american means being a constant participant in systems that enable genocide. you pay taxes. you buy phones. this is not a moral judgement, but an emphasis that to attempt to absolve yourself of sin by divesting completely from any individual choice tainted with imperialism is a fool's errand. drawing the line at voting is simply not a rational ethical choice.

your individual choice will not make the genocide stop. collective action and other unified political strategies are infinitely more useful than withholding votes in the general election

and while you're doing those, show up to the polls in november and vote for biden.

#current events

[renthony]

Just curious. How bad has Biden been at controlling COVID-19 in your view?

First: I already responded to a similar question you left on this post.

Second: Biden has been atrocious for COVID-19 safety and management. COVID-19 is still killing people, and our president has done a horribly insufficient job in mitigating that. "Better than the Republicans" is not the same thing as "good" or "effective." Biden's abysmal reaction to COVID-19 is part of why I'm so thrilled that the Uncommitted campaign for the Democratic primary has achieved some success. That particular campaign is focused on ceasefire in Palestine, but the People's CDC explained in a statement how Palestine is also very much a public health issue. We need to scare the bastard and actually do some of that "pushing him left" that people claimed they'd do after getting him elected. Though it seems to me like a lot of people just settled for, "okay, we got rid of Trump, we don't have to worry anymore."

Third: While I'm at it, people have to do more than vote. You have got to get involved. You have got to do more than participate in the presidential election once every four years. Join a union (may I recommend the IWW?), follow the guidance of The People's CDC, volunteer for your local Food Not Bombs, get involved in a tenants union like the Autonomous Tenants Union Network, read Riot Medicine, get trained in first aid and get involved in a street medic group, read up on your local politics and get involved on the small-scale, do something in addition to voting in the presidential election. Even if you're limited in how much you can personally participate, find the people who are talking about these issues and signal boost them, and share the information with others who may be more able to participate more. If you can tell people to go vote in the presidential election, you can also tell them to go do other things, too.

Now, with all of that out of the way, here are some links related to Biden's abysmal COVID-19 response:

During his 2020 campaign, Biden promised immediate $2K stimulus checks. Instead, he delivered $1,400. Sources: [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]

Velena Jones for NBC Bay Area: "‘Too expensive': Bay Area residents shocked over new COVID vaccine prices"

Reuters: "COVID vaccine manufacturers set list price between $120-$130 per dose"

Joseph Choi for The Hill: "Free COVID-19 test program to be suspended for now"

Disability activist Alice Wong writing for TeenVogue: "Covid Isn't Going Anywhere. Masking Up Could Save My Life," and the follow-up article, "COVID and the 2024 Election: What Biden and Democrats Owe High-Risk People."

Laura Weiss writing for The New Republic: "Democrats Can't Keep Ignoring Covid in 2024."

David Cohen and Adam Cancryn for Politico: "Biden on '60 Minutes': 'The Pandemic is Over.'"

Alex Skopic for Current Affairs: "COVID-19 is Still a Threat. So is Biden’s CDC."

Adam Cancryn for Politico: "Biden Appears to be Over Covid Protocols."

Paul Thornton for the Los Angeles Times: "Covid Still Rages, and the Biden Administration Isn't Helping."

Eric J. Topol for the Los Angeles Times: "The U.S. is facing the biggest COVID wave since Omicron. Why are we still playing make-believe?"

We should have free, universal testing. We should have free, universal vaccination. We should have free, universal treatment. We should have financial assistance for those of us who can't work outside the home. We should have mandated work-from-home for any job that can be done remotely. We should be emptying prisons and paying attention to the way disease and abuse proliferate inside their walls. We should have COVID-19 safety PSAs and government support for universal masking. We should have free distribution of N95s. We should have mandated masking in medical settings and public spaces. We should have a higher minimum wage. We should have healthcare reforms. We should have strong worker protections. We should have improved infrastructure. We should have a president who gives a single flying fuck about how many of us are dying.

And we have none of it.

But we sure seem to have money to keep dropping bombs, arming cops, terrorizing the vulnerable, and imprisoning innocent people to use for slave labor.

#original post #covid 19

[keelanrosa]

possibly a wildly out-of-touch opinion but shit like "vote blue no matter who" should apply to like. the president. not every single political race in america.

("okay but the phrase is 'no matter who' --" yeah because it became popular during the 2016 election when we had about twenty people in the Democratic primaries, the "who" was Biden or Yang or Williamson even if you prefered Sanders, not the bluest candidate for the local school board.)

all the "ohh, you think voting blue will help? Democrats are just as bad!" bullshit is completely inapplicable for races where a third-party actually has a chance in hell of winning and people should already be taking ten minutes to Google policies instead of treating voting like rooting for a favorite sports team

(also just plain bullshit anyway but that's a whole other topic.)

on the flip side the presidential elections are so fundamentally broken i'm honestly not sure a third-party candidate legally can win. we sure as shit don't elect our presidents based on who gets the most votes and electors are generally already dedicated to a specific candidate. so shitty as it is, it's a binary choice until the system is completely revamped on a level which will take years and quite possibly decades under the best of circumstances, and it's not exactly gonna speed up if the president is openly and actively trying to create a dictatorship in the most literal 'appointing Supreme Court judges he thinks will help overturn elections' sense of the word.

#us politics

[amtrak-official]

For this upcoming US election, are there any candidates you know of (any branch/level) who have expressed intent to support more/better trains?? /gen

I am unfortunately not well read on most canidates for 2024 outside my state but I can give general advice. If we are talking presidential election in 2024 we need Biden purely because one of the first actions of a republican would be to cut infrastructure spending and federal grants are one of the largest funders of transit investment. For Congress, We really want to keep Jon Tester, he has been a consistent advocate for Amtrak. Typically, Democrats in Congress are more pro-tranist than republicans, but I don't know any individuals who we need to insure are or stay elected next year. Be sure to vote in local elections AND primaries to make sure you have a city council that supports transit. Also we need to vote blue because Republicans are facists but we are discussing transit right now. If anyone has local elections, or state elections that matter for transit, please say so here

#asks

[dogesterone]

i agree with a lot of the sentiment behind "just dont vote" people but like. you can still very much vote. there are still primaries, state elections, and local elections. the presidential election is not the only one in existence. there are others with less bleak options.

[nappingpaperclip]

PLEASE REPOST ♥️

CALL TO ACTION:

Write in or vote “uncommitted” at your state’s primaries

Even if you plan on voting for Biden or don’t plan on voting at all, please join me in writing in/declaring yourself “uncommitted” at local caucuses or upcoming primary in protest of Biden’s participation in genocide.

“None of us want Trump to win, which is exactly why we’re doing this. This is the only way that we can raise the flags to Democrats that you are going to lose unless you call for an ultimate ceasefire” -Gabriela Santiago-Romero of the Detroit City Council

This does NOT mean that you cannot vote for Biden in November.

All it means is that you are telling the DNC that you are not yet committed to Biden for his role in genocide!

Please spread the word to your friends & family both irl and on social media. You can also help out by handing out flyers or creating posters for the “uncommitted” campaign at your local polling place on the day of your primary.

Primary & caucus dates:

#vote Biden #Genocide Joe #Joe Biden #us politics #Palestine #Free Palestine #Free Gaza #strike for palestine #strike for gaza #jews for palestine #jews for ceasefire #jews for peace #christians for palestine #muslims for Palestine #catholic #Gaza #genocide #stop the genocide #.txt #vote blue no matter who #vote blue #us primaries #caucuses #caucus #uncommitted #uncommitted movement #Instagram #primaries

[amyupdates]

amylee: Get out there and make yourself heard! Along with the presidential primary, there are many local offices up for a vote today across 17 states. Local elections MATTER. Let’s make it better. USE YOUR VOICE!

Find out your where/when/who and how at Headcount.org

#Amy Lee #Instagram #IG

[anexperimentallife]

A few things you should know about shitty US electoral politics (long post)

Neither party gives a fuck about you, and the leadership of BOTH parties support the genocide in Gaza, but you already knew that.

HOWEVER, various prominent GOP figures ALSO supported a right-wing domestic coup attempt, want to ban abortion nationwide (overturning Roe v Wade was a step along the way to that), want draconian restrictions on birth control, to ban same-sex marriage, ban sex education, ban any and all queer-positive literature, want to "phase out" social security and medicare, to completely rewrite US history textbooks nationwide with a nationalist agenda that erases US crimes against non-white peoples (already done in some states), allow US law enforcement to stop anyone darker than mayonnaise and demand to see their papers, start a nuclear war, abolish the minimum wage, outlaw their political rivals, weaponize the justice department, FBI, and other federal agencies against their political rivals, outlaw dissent of any kind, and remove restrictions against using US troops against US citizens (see Tuberville's blocking of top military appointees so that a future GOP president can appoint GOP/Trump loyalists to those positions, the way they blocked judicial/SCOTUS nominees in order to get Roe v Wade overturned).

The GOP openly states that they know the only way they win elections is by keeping non-right-wing voters away from the polls, and they invest heavily in, among other things, online psyops to convince people not to vote. And it works, because right wing voters ALWAYS show up to the polls.

Every time a right wing candidate wins, Dem leadership goes, "Huh, I guess we need to field more conservative candidates if we want to win elections." The idea being that if they can somehow "meet in the middle," they'll get the conservative vote. (Hint: They won't.)

So what convinces the Dems to run more progressive candidates? Overwhelming support at the ballot box for leftist candidates on the local and primary levels--school board elections, senators and representatives at the state and federal level, sheriffs, judges, mayoral and city council races, and various other local and regional elected positions. That's it. The only two things they understand are money and winning.

Whomever wins the presidency and gets enough congressional support gets to appoint federal and supreme court judges, top military officials, and various other decision-makers. THIS IS HOW THE GOP WAS ABLE TO OVERTURN ROE V WADE.

The US can't be fixed in a single election cycle. Every cycle in which the GOP wins, however, pushes the Dems further to the right AND allows the GOP more power to enact their vision.

Yes, we need viable third parties. Unfortunately, barring a miracle, third parties and independents are right now viable only in some local, and possibly a few congressional races.

In order for third parties to be viable for things like presidential elections, we're most likely going to need ranked choice voting--which, again, we may eventually get by pushing progressive candidates at the state and local level--publicly-funded elections, the abolition of the electoral college (both Bush and Trump lost the popular vote, and were only awarded victory because of the electoral college), and the repeal of Citizens United (which essentially legalized large-scale corporate bribery of candidates).

Look, we all hate Biden, and refusing to vote for him (or whatever other shitbag candidate the Dems run) might feel good, but it is also likely to result in a GOP win--which means MORE support for genocide the world over, and the GOP gaining more power to enact their wish list, which I partially enumerated above.

How many people do you think will die under a nationwide abortion ban? How do you think it's going to work out if a far-right president has the authority to unleash US troops on protesters? How many seniors and disabled folks do you think will suffer and die if Social Security and Medicare are abolished? How many will suffer and die if Trump gets his wet dream of a nuclear war?

I mean, the US has already bombed its own people for not toeing the capitalist/white supremacist line, sponsored coups against foreign leaders and replaced them with dictators, and invaded or threatened to invade foreign countries for not bowing to US corporate interests (look up the origins of the term "banana republic," "overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom," and "1953 Iran coup," for just a few examples), experimented on US citizens without their knowledge (look up "tuskegee syphilus study," among many other things) and so on, and so on.

And if the GOP gains control of all three branches of government, it's going to get even worse.

Today's GOP is more rabidly extremist than at any other time in my life. And as I said, I'm OLD, dude. I was born the year Kennedy was assassinated. Among my early memories are watching the first lunar landing, watching Nixon's "I am not a crook" speech, and seeing news footage of the US withdrawal from Vietnam. And I'm telling you, today's GOP makes the GOP of my youth look practically benign in comparison.

I used to roll my eyes at the refrain of, "this is the most important election of your life," and the "blue no matter who" folks, but man... The 2016 election really WAS the most important, but only SO FAR.

Because the GOP--due to the facts that GOP/Trump supporters voted, and many others didn't--will most likely control the Supreme Court for DECADES to come, and currently control the Senate. If they gain the presidency, retain control of the Senate, and take control of the House, all may be lost.

Again, the far right openly states that keeping non-conservatives from voting is how they win, and they invest a lot in gerrymandering, voter roll purges, and online psyops to make that happen. Doing exactly what the fash want "but for leftist/progressive reasons" isn't the own you think it is. Funny--I hear the same folks who mock far right voters for voting against their own best interests say they're "protesting" by refusing to vote--when that's exactly how the far right wins.

Look, I'm old. I was planning to live my final years outside the US, eventually immigrating to the Republic of Ireland or Uruguay or somewhere like that, but now that I have a child, I'm being forced to return to the US for at least a few years so I can use my medical benefits to live long enough to see her grow up. If she ever needs an abortion, or birth control, or to fight a discrimination or sexual harassment case, or simply to speak her mind without fear of being arrested or killed for it, or needs social security or Medicare because of a disability, I want her to have those things.

Another argument I've heard is that, "Voting doesn't change anything." Well, when I was a kid, mixed-race marriages were FINALLY legalized across the US, and schools became multiracial. More recently, same-sex marriage was made the law of the land. Conservatives fought all of those things, but voting made them happen.

On the flip side, thanks to the far right takeover of SCOTUS, Roe v Wade was overturned as an end result of the far right winning elections. (And again, this is just part one of their plan for a nationwide abortion ban.)

So don't look at it as voting FOR whatever shitbag the Dems run; look at it as voting AGAINST a full-on right-wing takeover of the US and buying time to make some fundamental changes. Voting doesn't mean you can't ALSO march, etc.

Or I mean, if you want a nationwide abortion ban, a nuclear war, MORE genocide, and all the other stuff of right-wing wet dreams, and want a far right takeover of the US while you tell yourself, "Yeah, but I maintained my moral purity," then by all means withhold your vote. Just don't delude yourself about the outcome.

#rob gets political

[unapologeticallytheworst]

Hey I don't usually talk politics on this blog, but given the anniversary today, I want take this opportunity to say vote. Vote in every God damn election you can. From local school board, to primary, to state, to presidential. Just vote. Please.

#They'd let me die in Texas #You want a praxis shift in US? #Be it

[hug-your-face]

Hey quick reminder that "withholding votes" is a logical fallacy.

Voting isn't the SATs. The only points that count are the votes CAST. There are no "negative points" for votes NOT cast.

Nobody counts the people who "withheld their vote." The only votes that count are the ones CAST.

Nobody says "wow, there sure are a lot of people who Didn't Vote For Our Guy! I guess he's is a bad candidate and we should put someone else up next time." That doesn't happen. That's not how it works. There is no such thing as a "withheld vote." There is only the absence of a vote. The only votes that count are the ones cast.

Refusing to vote isn't taking a stand, any more than refusing to speak is when you're asked what you want to have for dinner. Yeah, you may not get exactly what you asked for, but you have more influence than ZERO, which is exactly how much an uncast ballot is worth.

Politics isn't about getting all our wishes fulfilled. Its not about sweeping change. Politics is like lifting, or running, or drawing. it's about WHAT IS POSSIBLE today and tomorrow. It takes sustained work to arrive at lasting change. Politics is a complex tug-of-war where the needle moves a little bit this way, a little bit that way, a little bit the other way. Failing to vote isn't sending a message, it's letting go of the rope. The only votes that matter are the ones cast.

If I don’t like either party's candidate, and I decide to "send a message" by not voting? Yay, me! All I did was FAIL to make a tally AGAINST the other side. I've FAILED to push for a chance to move the window a bit. I've FAILED to help sustain what is, so that I can go lobby and protest and riot and elect super liberal local and state officials and make things better in the future.

And if I fail to be counted, and the other side swallows their misgivings and comes out in droves to be counted? Then they get more votes. And then they WIN. And then they get free, unimpeded reign to decide who is allowed to vote and who isn't.

Vote.

Vote your conscience in the primaries. Vote for survival in the presidential race.

The only votes that matter are the ones cast.

#repeat #there has been a lasting and concerted effort to suppress voters who care #and to discourage the ones that can't be suppressed #the only thing that's necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing #doing nothing is NOT ACTIVISM #literally the first syllable in activism is ACT #(and yes in case it's not obvious everything herein is written w USA politics in mind) #(miss me with 'in other countries--' IT DOESNT MATTER this is the country we have and this is the reality we are working with) #don’t like it? then take ACTion

[queen-simia]

it is voting day in Ohio, my dudes

we all know Biden is going to be on the November ballot anyway, but we do have another presidential candidate in the Democratic primary: Dean Phillips

also not a great choice, but if your aim is to send the message that you're not pleased with Biden, this is the election to show it via voting and *not* have it end in queer and POC genocide.

also do a quick study on who else is on your ballot locally via ballotready.org

now go gitcha sticker dammit

#us politics #politics #voting #2024 primaries

[diamondisunmemeable]

With Democratic primaries beginning in just a couple of weeks from the time of writing, now feels like a good time to remind folks that participating in the electoral process does not make you complicit in genocide, nor any of the other shitty things the US is responsible for.

It may not feel like it right now, but your vote can genuinely help make things better.

So what can you do?

1) Register to vote

One of the most important things you can do at this point in time is make sure you're registered to vote, and check for your local polling place and voting times. This post goes over that pretty well.

2) Support progressive candidates during the primaries

The primaries are the time for vote for the candidates you want. It shows the Democratic Party not only that you vote, but which policies you are interested in and which way you want things to be going. For instance, if you're angry over the US' handling of the ongoing genocide and human rights violations in Palestine, support candidates who support a ceasefire and aid to Palestine.

3) Advocate for electoral reform

Goes hand in hand with the previous point. Our current electoral system not only makes it impossible for third party candidates to gain significant traction, but makes it difficult for people to vote at all. Off the top of my head, we need:

Implementation of ranked-choice voting

Abolition of the Electoral College

Automatic voter registration at age 18

Recognition of Election Day as a federal holiday

Support candidates that support these ideas, and continue to advocate for them even after elections are over.

4) Vote local!

As mentioned above, third party candidates are unable to gain significant traction; this is especially true on the national stage. This means barring severe illness or death, the winner of this year's presidential election will be either Joe Biden or Donald Trump.

As difficult as it is to promote Joe Biden right now, letting Trump win would be a thousand times worse, in no small part due to Project 2025, which aims to accelerate America's slide into full-on fascism and make things a hell of a lot worse for trans folks and other minority groups.

This is where my last point comes in: vote in state and local elections! A lot of folks have a habit of only voting for president. Voting is down-ballot races is equally important, if not more so. At these levels of government, it is much easier to make your voice heard, and much easier to effect real change.

Go out and vote when the time comes, and help make this country less shitty!

#might edit later and add more info and links #politics #us politics #united states #joe biden #donald trump #israel #palestine #gaza #vote #voting matters #vote blue

[gillianthecat]

Voters in the USA, Election Day is in two days, on Tuesday, November 7th.

It's an off year, meaning no big presidential or congressional races are on the ballot (except a special election in RI) , but there may be local elections for things like school board, judges, and city council. These are usually low turnout races for positions that can have a big impact on your community, so your vote can make a big difference!

Edit: Ballotpedia doesn't show all races in all locations, so if nothing is turning up, check other sources. Try your state's election board. vote411.org also has a sample ballot lookup tool. (I'm not sure if it's 100% complete for every single race in the USA.)

I have nothing in my district and when I entered my address it said "check back closer to Election Day" but when I entered an address in a neighboring district the race did show up.

Ballotpedia has a tool where you can enter your address and get a sample ballot, showing all the races in your district(s) and the candidates running. If Nov 7, 2023 doesn't show up, and the first date you see is your state primary in 2024, then there are no elections you can vote in on Tuesday.

I hadn't heard about any of the races yet so I checked my address, and it turns out that's because there's nothing in my district this year! (But I did check another address that I know has something to confirm it wasn't just glitching when the date didn't even show up.)

#election day #november 7 2023 #election day usa #usa politics #get out the vote #vote #how to vote #ballotpedia #sample ballet #pinned post

[beardedmrbean]

A prominent New Hampshire Democrat plans to file a complaint with the state attorney general over an apparent robocall that appears to encourage supporters of President Joe Biden not to vote in Tuesday’s presidential primary.

The voice in the message is familiar — even presidential — as it’s an apparent imitation or digital manipulation of Biden’s voice.

“What a bunch of malarkey,” the voice message begins, echoing a favorite term Biden has uttered before.

The message says that “it’s important that you save your vote for the November election.”

“Voting this Tuesday only enables the Republicans in their quest to elect Donald Trump again. Your vote makes a difference in November, not this Tuesday,” it says.

The message concludes with a phone number belonging to Kathy Sullivan, a former New Hampshire Democratic Party chair who is now running a super PAC supporting the campaign to urge New Hampshire Democrats to write in Biden’s name in the primary. 

Biden’s name does not appear on Tuesday’s ballot, a consequence of state elections officials setting the date of the primary ahead of South Carolina’s on Feb. 3, the first sanctioned contest of the 2024 nominating race under new Democratic National Committee rules.

But local supporters launched the late write-in effort as a way to both marshall support for Biden and send a message to the national party about the Granite State’s coveted, century-long tradition of holding the nation’s first primary.

In an interview, Sullivan said she began receiving calls Sunday evening from those who had received the message. One woman she spoke to told her that Biden had called her, though she said she was not a Biden supporter.

“I said, ‘You got a call from Joe Biden, and he gave you my number?’” Sullivan said she responded.

A volunteer for the write-in effort also received the call and recorded it, according to Sullivan, and shared it with organizers of the Biden write-in campaign. One of the organizers then shared it with NBC News.

It’s not clear how many voters received the call or which types of voters were targeted. Lists of voters’ phone numbers can be readily purchased from data brokers.

And Sullivan said while it isn’t clear who is behind the robo-call, “It’s obviously somebody who wants to hurt Joe Biden.”

“I want them to be prosecuted to the fullest extent possible because this is an attack on democracy,” said Sullivan, an attorney, who believes the call could violate several laws. “I’m not going to let it go. I want to know who’s paying for it? Who knew about it? Who benefits?”

She said she also plans to engage federal law enforcement in addition to the state attorney general’s office.

Sullivan served as party chair in 2002, when a so-called phone-jamming effort was carried out during a hotly contested U.S. Senate race. Two Republican officials, including the executive director of the state Republican Party and a Republican National Committee operative, were convicted of using computer-generated phone calls to disrupt Democrats’ get-out-the-vote call center operations.  

The campaign of Dean Phillips, the Minnesota congressman challenging Biden for the nomination, said it was not aware of the calls but called it “wildly concerning.”

“Any effort to discourage voters is disgraceful and an unacceptable affront to democracy,” spokesperson Katie Dolan said. “The potential use of AI to manipulate voters is deeply disturbing.”

The Biden campaign, which says it is not involved in the write-in effort in New Hampshire, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did a spokesperson for former President Donald Trump’s campaign.

#nunyas news #hope they bust whoever is behind this

[cock-holliday]

Who TF am I supposed to vote for this year. I fucking hate America rn. I absolutely don’t condone what Biden is doing. But if I don’t vote Trump wins and he’s worse. He’s literally threatening to deport people speaking up against the genocide going on in Gaza (not that he can but that’s a scary prospect MAGA supporters are all around me who will spew his narrative). I genuinely need advice this election. Do I just not vote? Am I helping doom us to Trump by not voting? I’m a Democrat but I don’t condone what’s going on now it’s disgusting. I’m honestly leaning towards not voting but everyone around me is saying that’s a bad thing. Does any other candidate have a chance aside from those two?

I cannot tell you who to vote for but I can help you maybe figure it out for yourself.

First, not voting for someone is not a vote for someone else--do not let people tell you that. As a basic gesture you can, however seriously you mean it, threaten to withhold your vote from Biden. Tell his campaign people. Tell doorknockers. Say it at stops on his campaign trail. "I will not vote for Biden if he doesn't ____." You can lie. You can wholeheartedly plan to vote for him regardless, but putting some fear into his team can be helpful. The same tactic can work on any groups you might be part of. "I would love to vote for him but I can't in good conscious do it if he won't ___." Any group that dismisses you outright does not have your interests at heart. Convince them to take action too, or recognize that aggressive backlash for valid concerns are not the circle you want to entrust with your livelihood.

It's hard to tell what the 2024 election will come down to because we haven't even had a primary. Bernie Sanders seemingly came out of nowhere when it already seemed like a done deal that it would be Clinton as the sole Dem option. And boy did the DNC work to make sure she was--despite public support for another option.

Someone else may be a viable candidate to throw support behind as an alternative to Biden. Trump's legal situation muddies the waters on his eligibility, and a number of extreme right-wing fanatics think he's not fascist enough and have their eyes on DeSantis, possibly fracturing the Republican vote. It is entirely too early to tell how the general election will shake out.

Some things that are certain, however: 1. your vote is your choice and idiots guilting you while refusing to address actual concerns is not reason to vote for someone you don't want to. 2. however the presidential election shakes out, what will be much more influential on your future is local elections. An emboldened state can resist certain executive decisions to begin with, and local policy will always have a much more immediate effect on a person than national policy will.

It would be nice if, in the wake of a Trump or (insert republican candidate) win, democrats would ever recognize their own shortcomings and reconsider policy choices rather than doubling down that it's the American people who are wrong, but I'm not certain the message would be received. Then again, I am not a democrat, so appeals to the DNC are not high on my priority list.

Vote for Biden, don't vote for Biden, vote someone who has a chance to win, taking a stand and voting for someone who won't, don't vote on a president at all--this is up to you. It's not my decision and it's not anyone else's to make for you either. Make a statement with your choice if you can, but ultimately do what feels right.

#ask #anon ask #good luck bud