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When I talk with voters, I find that a lot of folks just want to know how the election system works. That alone seems to relieve some amount of voting anxiety. So here’s a short thread on how voting works
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Voting in America is tied directly to where you live. Not who you are, not what you own. Literally the coordinates of the address you use to register to vote.
You are a point on a map.
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You are a point on a map.
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That map is complicated. You don’t just vote in the United States. You vote in a state. Within that state, you vote in a county.
Counties are important to voting. We’ll come back to that.
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Counties are important to voting. We’ll come back to that.
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Within your county, you may vote in any number of smaller local units. Congressional districts, state legislative districts, cities, towns, villages, school districts, library districts, and so many more. All of those districts have different boundaries
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This is very different from how other countries vote. In many countries, you vote for a single political party to represent you in parliament. Voting in that system is relatively easy - everyone, more or less, gets the same ballot
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In the US, every ballot is unique. Neighbors often are voting on different candidates and proposals.
This makes voter education all the more important in the US - American voters have so many things to vote on that voters can (and should) be forgiven if they’re confused
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This makes voter education all the more important in the US - American voters have so many things to vote on that voters can (and should) be forgiven if they’re confused
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This also makes it hard to get basic information like: 1) how do I register? 2) am I registered? 3) can I vote early? 4) where do I vote? And other critically important questions.
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Which brings us back to counties. In most states, your election is run by your county government.
If I could recommend that people know one thing before November 3rd, it’s know the phone number for your county elections office. They’re there to help.
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If I could recommend that people know one thing before November 3rd, it’s know the phone number for your county elections office. They’re there to help.
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(Michigan, Wisconsin and New England voters - your elections are mostly run by your cities and towns/townships. Theses are the folks you typically want to call with questions.)
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Once you get connected with your county (or city/town) elections office, you’re on the right track. Of course, most people don’t need to call their local election officials (which is a good thing because I love y’all, but I can’t answer 200,000 phone calls)
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Most people are already registered to vote, most are already signed up to get absentee ballots if they’ve voted that way in the past, and most know where to go vote.
But if you don’t know those things, knowing your county, and who to call, is extremely valuable
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But if you don’t know those things, knowing your county, and who to call, is extremely valuable
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This is just the tip of the election iceberg - we get many questions on what happens to ballots after they’re cast, but the most important thing is you get a ballot to begin with, and that comes from your local elections office.
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