Whoever you vote for, the government wins.
If voting changed anything, they’d have made it illegal”
voting
- Today in Australia, it’s democracy sausage day (election day).
- We often hear about how difficult it is to get people to turn out to vote in the USA
- Time to flex on them by showing how easy we make it.
Here, voting is a responsibility, it’s compulsory, and basically everyone does it. Last time, we had relatively low turn out, and even that was still over 90% of the eligible population.
In cities, you can vote all over the place. Here’s a random bit of city:
Here’s another, from a different state:
These are both fairly built up areas, what about on the fringes?
How about some country towns?
In each electorate, you can vote at any polling place you choose. You only need to update your enrollment if your details change.
In the most remote regions, polling places can be hundreds of KM apart. There, special teams go out in advance, by plane and by car, to collect the votes.
There are mobile voting teams who visit people in hospitals, prisons, nursing homes. We have interstate voting centers for those traveling, and telephone votes can be arranged for the blind.
And, if for whatever reason none of that works, you can pre-poll, or make a postal vote. Almost 1/5 Australians have pre-polled this year.
So yeah. You can get close to 100% voter turnout. You just have to be like Australia.
Compilation of recent anarchist, anti-electoral campaign footage from Australia
No matter what happens:
Key West elected Teri Johnston, Florida’s first openly lesbian mayor
New York elected Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest woman ever elected to Congress alongside Abby Finkenauer, elected in Iowa and one of the first Iowan women ever elected to the House
Colorado elected Jared Polis, the first openly gay man elected governor in the US
Minnesota elected Ilhan Omar, the first Muslim woman (alongside Rashida Tlaib), the first refugee, and the first Somali-American woman elected to Congress
Massachusetts elected Ayanna Pressley, the first black woman elected to Congress in Massachusetts
Kansas elected Sharice Davids, an openly gay ex-MMA fighter and one of the first Native American women (alongside Deb Haaland) elected to Congress
Michigan elected Rashida Tlaib, the first Palestinian-American (and first Muslim woman, alongside Ilhan Omar) elected to Congress
Kentucky elected Nima Kulkarni, the first Indian-American elected to Kentucky House of Representatives
New Mexico elected Deb Haaland, one of the first Native American women (alongside Sharice Davids) elected to Congress
New Hampshire elected Chris Pappas, the first openly gay member of Congress from New Hampshire
Florida elected Anna Eskamani, the first Iranian-American state lawmaker in Florida
Texas elected Veronica Escobar and Sylvia Garcia, the first Texas Latinas in Congress
Colorado elected Joe Neguse, the first black Coloradan in Congress
New York elected Letitia “Tish” James, the first black woman elected New York State Attorney General
Connecticut elected Jahana Hayes, the first black, Connecticut woman in Congress
Minnesota elected Angie Craig, the first lesbian mother in Congress
Guam elected Lou Leon Guerrero, the first female governor of Guam
And a record number of women will be elected to the House.
Representation matters. Diversity matters. This is progress.
No matter who you vote for, a politician always wins
What a wonderful initiative! Spread the word.
so i made some memes
The US pretending to bring democracy to other countries is so funny when we vote on a non-holiday workday where people can wait up to six hours for a machine that may record their vote incorrectly to defeat a minority party that controls all three branches of government.
Hey so friendly reminder about voting and elections that I haven’t seen going around yet but is SUPER IMPORTANT.
Watch what you wear and say while you’re waiting in line for the voting booth/at the polls. It is against federal law to do anything that might be considered campaigning once you’re there, and since we know that voter suppression is the name of the game this election, there will be people looking for ANY reason to remove you from the polling place. And they will nitpick. You have a shirt with a artistic picture of donkey on it? You’re visibly supporting the Democrats, you’re disqualified from voting. Want to wear a Black Lives Matter shirt? Not there you don’t. They’ll call it intimidation and kick you out. Pins, buttons, stickers, none of it. Wear the most bland, plain clothes you can imagine.
And then keep your mouth shut. Even the slightest hint of discussion about which candidate you’re voting for can get used against you. Don’t assume the people around you are safe to discuss it with. You might be overheard. There WILL people watching for these things, hoping to get rid of anyone they can. Voter suppression isn’t just about making registration impossible. It happens at the polling stations too. Be smart, be bland, be quiet, and make sure your vote gets in.
Also- and I have seen this mentioned but it bears repeating- DO NOT TAKE A PICTURE OF YOUR BALLOT. EVER. It’ll also disqualify your vote. Take a selfie when you’re out of their with your fun little sticker.
Hank Green + his friends made a whole YouTube channel dedicated to videos explaining how to vote in every. single. state. None of them are longer than three and a half minutes. Deadlines to register are fast approaching in a lot of places so it’s incredibly important that everyone is well informed about what they need to do in order to exercise their right and make their voice heard. Go forth, America. Show up for what you believe in. Make good choices. Please.
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: Vote! Check the registration deadlines in your state, get registered, and vote! If you have to get an ID, do it. If you have to jump through some hoops to prove eligibility, jump! They aren’t going to make it any easier to vote, so start now!
We in
