a lot of my friends have been noting that none of the “get out there and vote!” posts actually have any resources attached to them, so they’re great for motivation but if you don’t know how to vote they can really stress you out. so i compiled a list of resources that hopefully can help!
Here’s the most confusing bit! Figuring out who you’re voting for. Don’t know who’s running? Ballotpedia is a godsend. The page in the link looks very confusing, but all you have to do is click your state in each of the right-hand boxes. Those will take you to a page that will explain who from each party is running for the Senate and the House. Ballotpedia will also tell you if your state has same-day voter registration. If you’ve missed the cutoff to register, you might still be able to do it on election day, so check that on your state’s voting page!
Polling places can be crowded and the wait can be long to vote. Don’t freak out! Bring a book or some music/podcasts to listen to while you wait.
If you can’t make it on the day, you still have options! Find your state on this Ballotpedia page and click to learn more. The page it takes you to will have links and information on how to get an absentee ballot in your state. If you plan on absentee voting, hurry! The deadlines to apply and vote are usually sooner than the actual election day.
Most of all, remember: this election could swing the house and the senate, giving Democrats more control over new laws and legislation for years to come. You’re not a bad person if you can’t vote, but it’s a lot easier than you might think!
When your players finally get past one part of the session that you never even considered to be slightly difficult while planning it
When your players come up with an innovative means to completely disarm one of the main obstacles that you had planned in a way that you never even considered, and then proceed to spend the rest of the session sabataging each other without any external prompting
Compromise: hobbits smoke both & lump them together as ‘pipeweed’
u never kno what ur gonna get when a hobbit offers u some “pipeweed”
‘pipeweed’ in the Shire just means ‘herbs u can smoke in a pipe’ and it’s common knowledge that there are pipeweeds that are smooth & relaxing to smoke and pipeweeds that’ll get you stoned and they know which is which.
For whatever reason only tobacco caught on outside the Shire so middle earth’s other smokers just took to calling it pipeweed bcos that’s what the hobbits they bought it from called it.
in Alabama, Amendment 2 would restrict abortion rights, completely banning it if Roe v. Wade is overturned, which is now likely.
in Arkansas, Issue 2 would disenfranchise voters by requiring photo ID.
in Florida, Amendment 5 would make it much harder to raise taxes.
in Louisiana, Amendment 1 would ban people with felony records who’ve served their time from running for office for 5 years, even if their offense was just e.g. marijuana possession.
in Oregon, Measure 105 would repeal its sanctuary state law protecting immigrants, and Measure 106 would restrict abortion rights by banning public funds from being spent on abortions.
in West Virginia, Amendment 1 would completely ban abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned, which is now likely.
in Arkansas, Issue 5 would raise the minimum wage to $11.
in California, Prop 2 would fund housing for the homeless, and Prop 10 would allow local rent control.
in Colorado, Amendment A would fucking ban slavery as punishment for a crime. (yes, that’s a real thing.) Amendments Y and Z would hopefully limit gerrymandering. Amendment 73 would tax the rich to pay for education. Proposition 111 would crack down on predatory payday loans.
in Florida, Amendment 4 would restore voting rights to people with felony records who’ve served their time, and Amendment 9 would ban offshore drilling (and also vaping in the workplace, because Florida is weird).
in Idaho, Proposition 2 would expand Medicaid eligibility.
in Maine, Question 1 would fund a universal home-care program for disabled people and older adults.
in Maryland, Question 2 would allow election-day voter registration.
in Massachusetts, Question 3 would protect the state’s transgender anti-discrimination law which is under attack.
in Michigan, Proposal 1 would legalize recreational marijuana, and Proposal 3 would strengthen voting rights by instituting automatic voter registration, expanding absentee voting, pushing back deadlines, and more.
in Missouri, Amendment 2, Amendment 3, and Proposition C would all legalize medical marijuana (but they’d tax it different amounts and use the taxes for different things — you be the judge). Amendment 1 would make reforms to lobbying, campaign finance, and redistricting, and Proposition B would raise the minimum wage to $12.
in Montana, I-185 would expand Medicaid eligibility.
in Nebraska, Initiative 427 would expand Medicaid eligibility.
in Nevada, Question 5 would allow automatic voter registration, and Question 6 would require renewable energy.
in North Dakota, Measure 3 would legalize recreational marijuana and expunge existing marijuana convictions.
in Ohio, Issue 1 would downgrade drug possession offenses from felonies to misdemeanors and provide for some criminal justice reforms.
in Utah, Proposition 2 would legalize medical marijuana, and Proposition 3 would expand Medicaid eligibility.
in Washington, Initiative 940 would train cops not to murder people, and Initiative 1631 would charge polluters a fee on carbon emissions and fund environmental programs.
the outcomes of these and other important initiatives will be determined at the ballot box. you can make a direct impact on these issues in your state by doing your research and voting.
can’t vote? search for an organization supporting (or opposing) the initiative you care about, and consider donating your time or money to help them out.
(please note that i’m not an expert on all of these initiatives. you may conclude for example that one of them sounds good, but isn’t implemented well so you can’t support it. that’s fine! but now you know what’s going on in your state and can have your say, and that’s a good thing.)
Prop 2 in Michigan is designed to rectify the gerrymandering fiasco there too. All three Michigan proposals are good progressive steps!
Ditto on Michigan’s Prop 2, I volunteered with the group that got it on the ballot. It’ll make it so the voting districts are drawn by an independent commission and they’re going to put the whole process out in public. (Currently the state legislature does it, so whichever party has the majority on census year gives themselves the advantage for the next decade).
cool! yeah, i skipped a few redistricting ones because they can be tricky to evaluate, but i’m glad to hear good things about it
And the elected offices aren’t all about Dem/Rep legislators either; many judges are elected, and you want to have a say in that – you could get judges who accept “affluenza” and “gay panic” defenses, or you could have judges who throw out trumped up charges and rein in sentencing for marijuana convictions of Black people.
Never let the big races/personalities distract you from everything else that can go on a ballot. That’s how horrible shit gets legislated, they put stuff on ballots when they can be sure of low turnout because there are no high-profile contests.
in Ohio, Issue 1 would downgrade drug possession offenses from felonies to misdemeanors and provide for some criminal justice reforms.
ISSUE 1 IS IMPORTANT. GET YOUR BUTTS OUT TO THE POLLS.
GO TO THE POLLS. VOTE.
seriously. Drug offenses disproportionally effect people of color and are used to incarcerate non-violent offenders
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