
How to Vote in the 2020 Election - mkr-hn
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/how-to-vote-2020/
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bcrosby95
Considering the current climate surrounding the USPS, if you vote by mail you
should drop it off yourself at the local election office.

The law in several states is based upon when they receive it. If it is
postmarked in time but they receive it late, your vote literally gets thrown
away.

~~~
stupendousyappi
According to a Washington Post article from today, the Trump campaign is
considering filing lawsuits to challenge mail in ballots without postmarks.

[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-mail-
voting/20...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-mail-
voting/2020/08/13/3eb9ac62-dd70-11ea-809e-b8be57ba616e_story.html)

~~~
derision
Because it leaves the doors wide open for foreign interference

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hprotagonist
All the votes i could cast this year that will substantively affect an outcome
have already been cast in my state’s statewide primary, in which i cast an
absentee ballot i mailed back last week. I voted in the presidential primary
before lockdown, where my candidate was defeated.

I will for damn sure be voting in the general, but my local rep is running
uncontested, my state has a polling average of ~+40 biden, and no local ballot
measures of any interest are included this cycle, so all i’m doing is bumping
the popular vote a bit in an extremely predictable direction as far as top of
the ticket is concerned.

Downballot, we have a right to repair measure that I think is important, but
not a lot else.

edit: just to be clear, I _love_ voting, I take my obligations seriously, it's
one of my favorite civic activities, I am well aware of the importance of
local politics. Mostly, I am equal parts relieved that we're here again, and
only disappointed that the pandemic is almost certainly going to preclude my
usual celebratory post-voting girl scout bake-sale brownie at my polling
place.

~~~
tunesmith
People have got to get over the math arguments here. Voting isn't about
whether your vote will "matter" mathematically to your local races. It's a
symbol of expressing your democratic power - a discipline and civic
responsibility. We should all vote just as part of being citizens that care
about and defend democracy.

(And then occasionally - you don't know when - it will also matter
mathematically.)

~~~
ipnon
It's more important to identify as a voter than it is to just vote.

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mmastrac
It's so strange to me that voting is so political in the USA (yes, I realize
the phrasing). It really feels like fundamental voting rights are constantly
under attack -- whether it's against felons in Florida that don't vote the way
that the leadership likes, or disenfranchising minorities.

For a "bastion of democracy and freedom", America has some major problems with
its most basic rights.

~~~
jlev
This is intentionally done by one political party that does not care about
democracy. They push policies that restrict individual voting rights,
gerrymander districts for minority rule, and expand the influence of money
over people. This has been their plan for decades, as they see the younger and
more diverse America as a threat to their ideology. We have got to vote them
out at every level.

~~~
rayiner
> This has been their plan for decades,

Democrats controlled the house continuously for 40 years until 1994, due in no
small part to gerrymandering. Republican-advantage gerrymandering (on a
nationwide basis) dates to only about 2010.

~~~
dragonwriter
> > This has been their plan for decades,

> Democrats controlled the house continuously for 40 years until 1994,

1955-1995, actually, and yet it is still true that the current Republican
effort (which also includes gerrymandering, but also all the other factors
list by GP) has been in place for decades. (1995 was two and a half decades
ago, and the Republican strategy being discussed started _before_ they took
control of the House.)

And, yes, some of the other bits besides gerrymandering also used to be
Democratic strategies, especially racially-targeted restrictions on voting
rights before the parties switched sides on race issues in a process that
included Johnson's embrace of civil rights followed by the Republican
subsequent exploitation of that and pursuit of disaffected ex-Democratic
racists as a core voting bloc.

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pmoriarty
Voting is really the absolute minimum you could do to effect political change.

You can magnify your influence by not just voting but also volunteering for
and donating to political organizations, getting involved in local politics
(such as running for office yourself or sitting on local boards), becoming and
organizer yourself, and educating yourself and others on the issues,
organizations, techniques, history, and people involved in politics.

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djaque
Seriously, send your application in now. I sent it in a while ago and it took
a solid week longer than it has taken in years past.

------
senkora
See also: the “How to Vote in Every State” YouTube channel, which has a short
video for each state + DC.

[https://www.youtube.com/c/howtovoteineverystate](https://www.youtube.com/c/howtovoteineverystate)

I like those because it’s sometimes easier to share video content with people.

