Hi US Era, for most of you in America -- today is election day!
"Wait, what?" You might be saying, "I don't see a thread on the front page of ResetEra, it can't be election day, I thought that's next year?! Albatross you're screwed up from daylight savings -- you set your clocks back by ONE YEAR not ONE HOUR you big dumb idiot!"
No! Polls are open in all 50 states today!
You might be thinking, "I don't know anything about my local candidates and I don't care, they don't affect my life as much as who the president is or who is running for senate!" But that's where you're wrong! Local elections have a much greater impact on your day to day life. They determine how the bulk of your taxes are spent, they determine the condition of your roads, your schools, your public bathrooms, your public parks; They determine if your children will have public schools to go to or will have to go to a charter school, or if your money is going to be used to support paying teachers or privatizing public education. They help decide if you're going to smoke marijuana legally in your state, or whether the long arm of the law can toss you in the clinker for trying to take the edge off (True story! In 2013, select Massachusetts town and cities had a preliminary non-binding ballot question about the legality of marijuana... It was a test vote, with no ramifications, but it passed overwhelmingly, and provided the template that legalization advocates would use in 2016 when our state finally voted to legalize marijuana... And now, today, I can walk into a dozen pot shops across the state and by some overpriced but high quality marijuana -- it wouldn't have happened without that under-publicized non-binding test vote in a "meaningless" election years earlier)
In many states, state legislative seats are on ballots. "What who really cares about state legislators, they're not the ones voting to impeach Trump, that's the Federal congress!" Aah, but that's where you're wrong! State legislatures draw up congressional districts. That whole "Gerrymandering" thing that we've heard so much about? Parties can gerrymander because they hold majorities in their state legislatures, and if they hold strong majorities and don't have checks by governors or state courts, then they can draw up their congressional districts however they want. If that means excluding black districts from having a say in who represents them in congress, or keeping poor people poor at the benefit of the wealthy, it all contributes. This year, voting in your state elections is as important as ever because 2020 is a census year, and congressional districts will be drawn up based on the state legislators that you will elect today! The 2019 state and local elections are, arguably, the most important elections until 2029, TWO videogame console generations from now!
Further -- picture yourself in 2020, when the presidential choice is between Safe Moderate #1 and Right Wing White Nationalist #1, and you might say, "Eh, I don't even want to vote none of these candidates represent me..." Well! The way to get candidates who look more like you, represent your ideas, and promote the issues that you feel passionate about is to vote for them in your local elections because they'll never ascend to state and federal office otherwise. Do you like candidates like Bernie Sanders? Well, consider this, Bernie Sanders was just a local activist in small city Burlington Vermont when he first ran during a special election for Mayor of the city of Burlington. Burlington had been presided over by a safe liberal mayor, someone everybody liked but few were passionate about. In a close election between a handful of candidates, Bernie Sanders won the mayorship with less than 10 votes in that special election. Ten votes! If those 10 people stayed in that day, say if it rained or if they just didn't feel like voting or if they thought it was unimportant, OR if 11 more people came out to vote for whoever was #2, Sanders would have never won. He probably wouldn't have made a name for himself in Vermont politics, he likely wouldn't have been able to run for the legislature shortly after, he likely would have never won a congressional seat, he likely would have never become senator, and, now in 2019, he likely wouldn't be running for the Democratic ticket for president in the 2020 election. 10 votes! Maybe eventually Sanders would have won some office, but maybe that wouldn't be for 4 or 8 more years, and maybe he would have never ascended to the national picture in 2015 and 2016... Maybe if those 10 people didn't turn out to vote for Bernie Sanders in 1992 or whenever that boring special election was for MAyor of Burlington, then the 2016 Democratic Primary would have been a tooth-and-nail battle between ..... Hillary Clinton and Martin O'Malley.......
Do you want the presidential election of 2032 to look like the presidential election from 2016? Safe Moderate #4 vs. Right Wing Nationalist #3? Do you want to see Chelsea Clinton vs. Diaper Don Jr. in 2036? Or, do you want to see candidates that look like you, talk like you, and are passionate about the issues that you're passionate about? Well, today, those candidates are running for your local city councils, your state eldermans, your school committees and governors councils. You can either hand today's elections over to the geriatric boomers at the retirement home who are all coming out to vote today, and who will elect the same-old-same-olds, or you can go vote yourself and put the next Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Bernie Sanders, or Elizabeth Warren into the positions that are going to give them the experience and networking opportunities to become those progressive leaders in 2, 6, 12, or 18 years. What else do you have to do today? Rockstar Game Launcher is broken anyway!
Where do I vote?
www.vote.org
"Wait, what?" You might be saying, "I don't see a thread on the front page of ResetEra, it can't be election day, I thought that's next year?! Albatross you're screwed up from daylight savings -- you set your clocks back by ONE YEAR not ONE HOUR you big dumb idiot!"
No! Polls are open in all 50 states today!
You might be thinking, "I don't know anything about my local candidates and I don't care, they don't affect my life as much as who the president is or who is running for senate!" But that's where you're wrong! Local elections have a much greater impact on your day to day life. They determine how the bulk of your taxes are spent, they determine the condition of your roads, your schools, your public bathrooms, your public parks; They determine if your children will have public schools to go to or will have to go to a charter school, or if your money is going to be used to support paying teachers or privatizing public education. They help decide if you're going to smoke marijuana legally in your state, or whether the long arm of the law can toss you in the clinker for trying to take the edge off (True story! In 2013, select Massachusetts town and cities had a preliminary non-binding ballot question about the legality of marijuana... It was a test vote, with no ramifications, but it passed overwhelmingly, and provided the template that legalization advocates would use in 2016 when our state finally voted to legalize marijuana... And now, today, I can walk into a dozen pot shops across the state and by some overpriced but high quality marijuana -- it wouldn't have happened without that under-publicized non-binding test vote in a "meaningless" election years earlier)
In many states, state legislative seats are on ballots. "What who really cares about state legislators, they're not the ones voting to impeach Trump, that's the Federal congress!" Aah, but that's where you're wrong! State legislatures draw up congressional districts. That whole "Gerrymandering" thing that we've heard so much about? Parties can gerrymander because they hold majorities in their state legislatures, and if they hold strong majorities and don't have checks by governors or state courts, then they can draw up their congressional districts however they want. If that means excluding black districts from having a say in who represents them in congress, or keeping poor people poor at the benefit of the wealthy, it all contributes. This year, voting in your state elections is as important as ever because 2020 is a census year, and congressional districts will be drawn up based on the state legislators that you will elect today! The 2019 state and local elections are, arguably, the most important elections until 2029, TWO videogame console generations from now!
Further -- picture yourself in 2020, when the presidential choice is between Safe Moderate #1 and Right Wing White Nationalist #1, and you might say, "Eh, I don't even want to vote none of these candidates represent me..." Well! The way to get candidates who look more like you, represent your ideas, and promote the issues that you feel passionate about is to vote for them in your local elections because they'll never ascend to state and federal office otherwise. Do you like candidates like Bernie Sanders? Well, consider this, Bernie Sanders was just a local activist in small city Burlington Vermont when he first ran during a special election for Mayor of the city of Burlington. Burlington had been presided over by a safe liberal mayor, someone everybody liked but few were passionate about. In a close election between a handful of candidates, Bernie Sanders won the mayorship with less than 10 votes in that special election. Ten votes! If those 10 people stayed in that day, say if it rained or if they just didn't feel like voting or if they thought it was unimportant, OR if 11 more people came out to vote for whoever was #2, Sanders would have never won. He probably wouldn't have made a name for himself in Vermont politics, he likely wouldn't have been able to run for the legislature shortly after, he likely would have never won a congressional seat, he likely would have never become senator, and, now in 2019, he likely wouldn't be running for the Democratic ticket for president in the 2020 election. 10 votes! Maybe eventually Sanders would have won some office, but maybe that wouldn't be for 4 or 8 more years, and maybe he would have never ascended to the national picture in 2015 and 2016... Maybe if those 10 people didn't turn out to vote for Bernie Sanders in 1992 or whenever that boring special election was for MAyor of Burlington, then the 2016 Democratic Primary would have been a tooth-and-nail battle between ..... Hillary Clinton and Martin O'Malley.......
Do you want the presidential election of 2032 to look like the presidential election from 2016? Safe Moderate #4 vs. Right Wing Nationalist #3? Do you want to see Chelsea Clinton vs. Diaper Don Jr. in 2036? Or, do you want to see candidates that look like you, talk like you, and are passionate about the issues that you're passionate about? Well, today, those candidates are running for your local city councils, your state eldermans, your school committees and governors councils. You can either hand today's elections over to the geriatric boomers at the retirement home who are all coming out to vote today, and who will elect the same-old-same-olds, or you can go vote yourself and put the next Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Bernie Sanders, or Elizabeth Warren into the positions that are going to give them the experience and networking opportunities to become those progressive leaders in 2, 6, 12, or 18 years. What else do you have to do today? Rockstar Game Launcher is broken anyway!
Where do I vote?
Polling Place Locator - Vote.org
Wondering where you vote on Election Day? Use our polling place locator to find out.
www.vote.org
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