If you have trouble voting in the us, don’t shout at the poll workers, call 1-866-687-8683
A couple of years ago, I had a ridiculous ordeal trying to vote. It wasn’t because of a voter purge or long lines, it was simple human error on the part of a well meant poll worker. It is a long story what happened, but I ended up going from one polling site to another and then back to the first (correct) polling place. Despite very short lines, I spent over two hours trying to vote. I 100% do not blame the poll worker or my local/state government, it was a well meant mistake that caused unnecessary hassle but was eventually fixed.
What I wish I’d know is that there is a hotline I could have called. 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683) is a national, nonpartisan Election Protection coalition that can help you navigate any problems. If I’d called them when the problem first arose, I could have saved myself two hours.
When I’ve told this story, some people get super angry at the poll worker and but I truly believe it was a well meant mistake. Poll workers are community members who volunteer to work a long day to help run our democracy and I think they generally mean well (even if some politicians don’t). And if you’re free on November 6, consider contacting your local Board of Elections about becoming a poll worker. There are widespread poll worker shortages and the position does pay.
You can also look up what will be on your local ballot at Ballotpedia so you are prepared to vote. Ballotpedia doesn’t tell you how to vote, it just tells you what is being voted on in your district. It is worth Googling the various issues as they can sometimes be tricky to understand.
must have been easier to be alive before news traveled so fast and you were only ever aware of a handful of tragedies instead of thousands and thousands of them being delivered to you on a daily basis. why is there even a question of why our generation is so depressed and anxious like I’ll tell you why?? everything i read breaks my heart and my capacity to empathize and be outraged is absolutely maxed out. yeah i’m sad bitch! we’re all sad! there’s no relief!
god this is a big ask but I really wish there were like….. a site where you could plug in your state/district/whatever and tick some boxes on issues you prioritize and then the site would give you a rundown of the potential candidates in your area and where they stand on those issues in like….. clean simple bullet points. gimme the cliffnotes, I literally do not have the time or energy to comb through god knows how many articles and shit to figure out who to support, just tell me what their stance is on X, Y, and Z, and that’s gonna have to be enough.
There’s BallotReady!
It goes through who’s on your ballot and explains things like that based on your address.
this is really great. it gives you bullet points on what each candidate has said and done on each issue.
very illuminating, frankly, seeing the candidate’s own words and actions. for instance, under ‘defense/veterans’ the republican candidates almost always say something about a well-funded military, and the democrats almost always say something about getting veterans the medical care they need. makes it pretty obvious that republicans don’t care about soldiers once they’re done with them.
funeral-biscuit 