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I recently took a dive down the rabbit hole, researching voter suppression. I wanted an idea of what tricks the GOP is pulling to break the back of our democracy and keep their grip on power.
As promised, hereâs the thread. So pour yourself a drink, âcause here we go:
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As promised, hereâs the thread. So pour yourself a drink, âcause here we go:
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Trump and members of his team know they face criminal investigation and prosecution the minute Bill Barr is no longer there in position to obstruct justice. Theyâre cornered right now âif they lose their grip on power, many of them will face jail time.
And they know it.
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And they know it.
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They also know that if a free and fair election were held today, Donald Trump would lose and lose BADLY.
Because of this, they all know they cannot afford to allow America to have a free and fair election in November.
This thread explores how theyâll pull that off.
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Because of this, they all know they cannot afford to allow America to have a free and fair election in November.
This thread explores how theyâll pull that off.
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Under normal circumstances, 33 states allow every eligible voter to vote absentee, without requiring any special excuse.
In other words, if your eligible to vote in person, youâre automatically eligible to vote via absentee ballot in those 33 states â no questions asked.
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In other words, if your eligible to vote in person, youâre automatically eligible to vote via absentee ballot in those 33 states â no questions asked.
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That leaves 17 states who only allow voters to vote by mail if they have a particular excuse (such as being away or being over the age of 65, in some states).
It should be noted, btw, that âover the age of 65â is a particularly friendly demographic for Republicans.
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It should be noted, btw, that âover the age of 65â is a particularly friendly demographic for Republicans.
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Of those 17 states, 13 have relaxed that requirement for the primaries or runoffs, but only a few of them (so far) have committed to doing so in November.
In fact, some are doing exactly the OPPOSITE. Letâs take a stroll over to Iowa, shall we?
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In fact, some are doing exactly the OPPOSITE. Letâs take a stroll over to Iowa, shall we?
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Earlier this month, Iowa carried out vote-by-mail Republican primaries, overseen by the Republican Sec. of State, who mailed out primary ballots to every eligible voter. It worked like it was supposed to.
So guess what the Republican-controlled legislature wants to do, now?
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So guess what the Republican-controlled legislature wants to do, now?
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You guessed it: In the Iowa legislature, state Republicans are now advancing a bill to forbid their Secretary of State from mailing out ballots to all eligible voters in Novemberâeven though they *just did it* for a Republican primary.
Let that sink in for a moment.
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Let that sink in for a moment.
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Even if they donât automatically mail ballots to every absentee voter, one would hope eligible voters could still request them during a coronavirus pandemic, right?
Right??
Nope. Not in all states.
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Right??
Nope. Not in all states.
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In 4 states, even if youâre immunocompromised or otherwise at high risk, that isnât considered a valid reason for you to request an absentee ballot for Novemberâdespite the coronavirus pandemic.
Those four states? Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Mississippi.
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Those four states? Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Mississippi.
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So even if youâre at risk, they want you to go to voting place.
Ok.
But as we recently saw in Georgia, thereâs no guarantee your usual polling place will be open, and even if it is, thereâs no guarantee the voting machines will have been delivered before the doors open.
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Ok.
But as we recently saw in Georgia, thereâs no guarantee your usual polling place will be open, and even if it is, thereâs no guarantee the voting machines will have been delivered before the doors open.
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Thatâs right: in Gwinnett County, GA, 16 out of 156 precincts â 1 in 10 â *DID NOT EVEN HAVE VOTING MACHINES WHEN THE DOORS OPENED AT 7AM*.
And those that DID have voting machines? They didnât work a lot of the time. As a result, voters had to wait in line for hours.
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And those that DID have voting machines? They didnât work a lot of the time. As a result, voters had to wait in line for hours.
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Now whyâd they suppress Gwinnett County voters, I wonder?
Well for one, Gwinnett is GAâs second-most-populous County. For another, the majority of Gwinnett Co. voters arenât white. Can you think of any reasons why the GOP would want to suppress THOSE votes in November?
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Well for one, Gwinnett is GAâs second-most-populous County. For another, the majority of Gwinnett Co. voters arenât white. Can you think of any reasons why the GOP would want to suppress THOSE votes in November?
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Now letâs take a stroll one county over, to Fulton Countyâi.e. Atlanta.
Georgia recently eliminated 80 polling places in Atlanta. In one precinct, they now have one polling place for 16,000 registered votersâand when the doors opened at 7am, the machines werenât working.
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Georgia recently eliminated 80 polling places in Atlanta. In one precinct, they now have one polling place for 16,000 registered votersâand when the doors opened at 7am, the machines werenât working.
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Anyone wanna guess what Atlanta/Fulton County have in common with neighboring Gwinnett County? Or why GA officials would want to make it harder for them to vote?
If you guessed âthe majority of the voters there arenât Republicansâ then DING DING DING you win the prize!
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If you guessed âthe majority of the voters there arenât Republicansâ then DING DING DING you win the prize!
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While this thread is already long enough without re-litigating the 2018 Georgia governors race, itâs worth noting that the man responsible for overseeing the 2018 Georgia governors raceâ then-Sec. of State Brian Kempâwas also the person who barely won the Governors race. 
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="đ€" title="Denkendes Gesicht" aria-label="Emoji: Denkendes Gesicht">
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Want to guess whose office canceled *OVER 700,000* Georgia voter registration in 2017 alone? If you guessed âGeorgia Secretary of State Brian Kempâ then DING DING another prize for you!
Want to guess who announced he was running for Governor that year?
Brian Kemp.
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Want to guess who announced he was running for Governor that year?
Brian Kemp.
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After canceling >700K voter registrations in 2017, Kemp then put additional new registrations on hold.
In October 2018 alone, his office put 53,000 new voter registrations on holdânearly 3/4 of which were from minorities. Kemp then went on to win by a mere 54,723 votes.
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In October 2018 alone, his office put 53,000 new voter registrations on holdânearly 3/4 of which were from minorities. Kemp then went on to win by a mere 54,723 votes.
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But enough of picking on the State of Georgia â letâs now roll on over to Mitch McConnellâs home state of Kentucky.
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In Kentucky, the number of polling places has been reduced from 3,700 to fewer than 200. Jefferson County (Louisville), for instance, has 616,000 REGISTERED VOTERS.
Those 616,000 registered voters will now have ONE polling place.
Take a moment to let that sink in.
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Those 616,000 registered voters will now have ONE polling place.
Take a moment to let that sink in.
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Anyone want to guess what makes Jefferson County special, or what would make Republicans want to suppress the vote there?
If you guessed âhalf of Kentuckyâs black population lives in that one countyâ then youâre really in a roll with this guessing thing!
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If you guessed âhalf of Kentuckyâs black population lives in that one countyâ then youâre really in a roll with this guessing thing!
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Now to his credit, Kentuckyâs Republican Sec. of State Michael Adams is working to reassure voters that absentee ballots are safe, with the voter education campaign slogan âeasy to vote, hard to cheatâ
But will all Jefferson Countyâs eligible voters get ballots? Weâll see.
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But will all Jefferson Countyâs eligible voters get ballots? Weâll see.
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Next, letâs move to the swing state of Wisconsin â a state that Donald Trump barely won in 2016, with a margin of fewer than 23,000 votes.
A state he badly needs to win in 2020.
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A state he badly needs to win in 2020.
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In the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where there would normally be 180 polling places, there are now only FIVEâfor a city of 590,157.
Howâs that supposed to work?
(For reference, in my home town, which has fewer than 8,000 people total, there are THREE polling places)
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Howâs that supposed to work?
(For reference, in my home town, which has fewer than 8,000 people total, there are THREE polling places)
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Just in case you havenât noticed the pattern yet, hereâs a handy map that shows how the 2016 vote broken down. Milwaukee is at the bottom righthand side there.
Wonder why Republicans would want to keep Milwaukee voters from voting?https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="đ€" title="Denkendes Gesicht" aria-label="Emoji: Denkendes Gesicht">
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Wonder why Republicans would want to keep Milwaukee voters from voting?
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25/x" title="Just in case you havenât noticed the pattern yet, hereâs a handy map that shows how the 2016 vote broken down. Milwaukee is at the bottom righthand side there. Wonder why Republicans would want to keep Milwaukee voters from voting? https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="đ€" title="Denkendes Gesicht" aria-label="Emoji: Denkendes Gesicht">25/x" class="img-responsive" style="max-width:100%;"/>
Hereâs as good a time as any to wade into the voter turnout question. How many people will even show up to vote during a pandemic, in November? We donât know.
We can make some guesses based on primary turn out, but ultimately we donât know.
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We can make some guesses based on primary turn out, but ultimately we donât know.
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Before the pandemic, the Milwaukee election commission forecasted 140,000 votes in the April Primaries.
There were only 75,292 (as of April 7th, the deadline for absentee ballots) â less than half the turnout from 4 years ago (167,765).
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There were only 75,292 (as of April 7th, the deadline for absentee ballots) â less than half the turnout from 4 years ago (167,765).
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I do think itâs reasonable to assume that reducing the number of polling places will drive turnout DOWN.
Why do I say that?
Because: in April, after they reduced the number of polling places, only 18,303 voted in person â for the entire city of Milwaukee.
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Why do I say that?
Because: in April, after they reduced the number of polling places, only 18,303 voted in person â for the entire city of Milwaukee.
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By comparison, in that same election, roughly 15,000 Wisconsin voters didnât even get their ballots sent to them in time for them mail them back by the deadline, because the deadline was moved UP to April 7th.
State officials called this a âglitchâ.
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State officials called this a âglitchâ.
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(A similar âglitchâ must have ooccurred over in Maryland, because there, where all registered voters are automatically supposed to get ballots in the mail, 160,000 ballots were never delivered, according to Maryland State officials. Where did they go?)
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Perhaps Milwaukee voters should consider themselves lucky, though. Their five voting places arenât NEARLY as bad as whatâs going on over in Nevada.
In Nevada, state officials sought to reduce the number of polling places to ONE per county.
Letâs do the math.
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In Nevada, state officials sought to reduce the number of polling places to ONE per county.
Letâs do the math.
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For one, Nevada only has 16 counties. So that means, for a state of 3.08 million people, theyâd only have 16 in-person voting stations.
SIXTEEN.
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SIXTEEN.
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Whatâs more, by breaking it down by county, that means that Nevadaâs least populous county (Esmerelda County, Pop. 873) would have the same number of voting places as their two most populous counties: Washoe County (pop. 471,519) and Clark County (pop. 2,266,715).
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Nevada only has two counties with a population >60,000.
It also only has two counties where Trump lost in 2016.
Want to guess which two counties?
Yep. Washoe and Clark.
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It also only has two counties where Trump lost in 2016.
Want to guess which two counties?
Yep. Washoe and Clark.
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Nevada, we should note, is a swing state.
A swing state that Donald Trump narrowly lost in 2016.
A swing state that now wants to have ONE polling place each in the two counties with the biggest populations by FARâcounties where a majority voted against Trump...
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A swing state that Donald Trump narrowly lost in 2016.
A swing state that now wants to have ONE polling place each in the two counties with the biggest populations by FARâcounties where a majority voted against Trump...
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We could keep going, state by state, but I think weâve got enough examples to illustrate the problem.
This leads us to a question weâve touched on, but havenât really looked at in depth yet: if itâs harder to vote *in person*, what about absentee ballots?
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This leads us to a question weâve touched on, but havenât really looked at in depth yet: if itâs harder to vote *in person*, what about absentee ballots?
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For starters, absentee ballots are both legal and reliable, and have been widely used for decades.
Among others, active duty military folks use them to vote when theyâre stationed away from home.
So theyâre not new, and theyâre not particularly controversial.
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Among others, active duty military folks use them to vote when theyâre stationed away from home.
So theyâre not new, and theyâre not particularly controversial.
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Not particularly controversial, that is, unless youâre an especially unpopular president running for re-election in the middle of a once-in-a-century global health crisis â in other words, Donald J. Trump.
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For reasons Iâm sure you can (now) understand, Donald Trump â and his various boot-lickers â would prefer that the people of Atlanta, of Milwaukee, of Clark and Washoe Counties, etc. had an especially difficult time voting in November.
So now you see the one-two punch:
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So now you see the one-two punch:
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The first punch is to make it as hard as possible to vote in person. Weâve covered that above.
The second punch is waging war on absentee ballots, so that people in those crowded areas canât easily mail in their ballots (if they receive them at all).
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The second punch is waging war on absentee ballots, so that people in those crowded areas canât easily mail in their ballots (if they receive them at all).
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So NOW you understand why Trump has suddenly taken a *very keen* interest in bashing both absentee ballots and the US Postal Service.
He knows he wonât win a free and fair election, so he has to ensure the election is neither free nor fair.
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He knows he wonât win a free and fair election, so he has to ensure the election is neither free nor fair.
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This thread is already past 40 posts, so Iâm not going to wade into the postal question, other than to say this:
Pay VERY close attention to what Republicans try to do, regarding the US Postal Service in the coming months.
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Pay VERY close attention to what Republicans try to do, regarding the US Postal Service in the coming months.
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Now, to be fair, many states are in a bind, even in states where officials *donât* want to suppress the vote.
Weâre in the middle of a pandemic, and roughly half of all poll workers are elderly.
So what to do?
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Weâre in the middle of a pandemic, and roughly half of all poll workers are elderly.
So what to do?
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For one, states will need to provide voting machines *that actually work*.
Well, let me back upâunlike Georgia, states need to make sure voting machines ARE ACTUALLY DELIVERED IN THE FIRST PLACE.
Thatâs the first step.https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="đ" title="Gesicht mit rollenden Augen" aria-label="Emoji: Gesicht mit rollenden Augen">
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Well, let me back upâunlike Georgia, states need to make sure voting machines ARE ACTUALLY DELIVERED IN THE FIRST PLACE.
Thatâs the first step.
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Next, theyâll need to provide ample PPE and disinfectant at those polling places. And that costs money.
Now, Iâm not going to dive into prioritization of state and local funds here [*cough cough *POLICE BUDGETS* cough*] but that money has to come from somewhere.
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Now, Iâm not going to dive into prioritization of state and local funds here [*cough cough *POLICE BUDGETS* cough*] but that money has to come from somewhere.
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I *certainly* wouldnât suggest that municipalities could delay buying new police cruisers and assault rifles and instead buy, I dunno, masks and Lysol for poll workers, but hey... if someone *else* wanted to suggest that, I wouldnât argue either https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="đ" title="Zwinkerndes Gesicht" aria-label="Emoji: Zwinkerndes Gesicht">
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What I WILL say is: if the cities and states wonât reallocate funds, the federal government could.
One estimate I saw put the cost of PPE and other safety measures â nation wide â at around an additional $2 billion.
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One estimate I saw put the cost of PPE and other safety measures â nation wide â at around an additional $2 billion.
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That sounds like a lot of money, until you realize how many TRILLIONS in Federal stimulus money has been spent over the past 4 months.
In that context, 2 billion is basically a rounding error.
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In that context, 2 billion is basically a rounding error.
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To date, Congress has only allocated a little over $400M to the problem. Itâs a start, but itâs not enough when youâre talking about ensuring a free and fair national election.
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But of course, as weâve discussed, Republicans donât want a free and fair election. President Trump â and most of his GOP toadies along with him â arr together waging war on American Democracy.
They. Do. Not. Want. You. To. Vote.
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They. Do. Not. Want. You. To. Vote.
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So what can you do?
For one, double check to make sure youâre still registered to vote, and havenât been âpurgedâ from the rolls.
Two, if you can vote absentee, make sure you get your ballot early, and mail it back well before the deadline.
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For one, double check to make sure youâre still registered to vote, and havenât been âpurgedâ from the rolls.
Two, if you can vote absentee, make sure you get your ballot early, and mail it back well before the deadline.
51/x
Three, if you live in Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee, or Mississippi, call your state secretary of stateâs office and demand they fix their broken rules.
Sure, LA, MS, and TN may go for Trump anyway, but we weâve seen, the down-ballot votes (like Secretary of State) MATTER.
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Sure, LA, MS, and TN may go for Trump anyway, but we weâve seen, the down-ballot votes (like Secretary of State) MATTER.
52/x
And lastly? If you live in a state where shennanigans are afoot? Protest.
Protest protest protest. Take to the streets, early and often. Make sure your stateâs Secretary of State *knows* he or she will be held accountable, and that the voters are watching.
53/x
Protest protest protest. Take to the streets, early and often. Make sure your stateâs Secretary of State *knows* he or she will be held accountable, and that the voters are watching.
53/x
At the end of the day? They canât win this election fair and square.
They know that.
So theyâre gonna try to steal it.
We cannot let them.
We MUST not let them.
Democracy must survive.
/End
They know that.
So theyâre gonna try to steal it.
We cannot let them.
We MUST not let them.
Democracy must survive.
/End
Post Script to this thread:
Next time someone says âI dOnT kNoW wHy ThEy HaVE to PrOtEsT and RiOt, wHy CaNt tHey JuSt uSe tHe bALLoT BoX?â you can show them this thread.
Republicans are rigging and stealing electionsâwhich makes them the enemies of democracy.
Itâs that simple.
Next time someone says âI dOnT kNoW wHy ThEy HaVE to PrOtEsT and RiOt, wHy CaNt tHey JuSt uSe tHe bALLoT BoX?â you can show them this thread.
Republicans are rigging and stealing electionsâwhich makes them the enemies of democracy.
Itâs that simple.
Post-Post Script:
The morning after I posted this thread, Dementia Don posts another all-caps screed against absentee ballots:
https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1275024974579982336?s=21">https://twitter.com/realdonal... https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1275024974579982336">https://twitter.com/realdonal...
The morning after I posted this thread, Dementia Don posts another all-caps screed against absentee ballots:
https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1275024974579982336?s=21">https://twitter.com/realdonal... https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1275024974579982336">https://twitter.com/realdonal...
