This is your election season reminder that even if you kinda hate both presidential candidates you should still get a ballot. Here’s why (thread):

Every state representative is on the ballot. So are congressional reps, a senator, lots of judges, and all the county-level electeds.

I’m not a single-issue voter, but if I was, it would be on educational equity. The state legislature has almost all the power when it comes to decisions around funding our schools, creating curricular requirements, and controlling teacher certification.

Speaking of schools, school board candidates are on the ballot. These are the people who make the direct decisions in your community including hiring superintendents, day-to-day operations, and COVID-related decisions. They are the implementation mechanism for state laws.

Legislators make the laws, but judges are the interpreters of the law, and they’re often the ultimate deciders of how implementation can work. If you’re worried about things like the governor’s EOs, you’re worried about State Supreme Court Justices.

If you’re worried about justice, you’re worried about your local judges. These are the people who decide sentencing structures. They have SO MUCH POWER. They’re the difference between a criminal justice system that gives kids probation and one that is a school to prison pipeline.

While we’re on this, county sheriffs do a lot. If you’re concerned about management of jails, including how people awaiting trial are fed, or if you think people are overpoliced for certain actions, the sheriff has control over what the county’s priorities are.

Take everything I just said about sheriffs, triple it, and you’ll have the power of the county prosecutor. Your vote here directly determines who goes to trial and which cases are let go. As an abolitionist, I have a lot of feelings here, but suffice to say it’s the key to reform

Are you worried about elections running smoothly, safely, and effectively? Congrats! You care about the county clerk race. If your municipal races are up in the general, your local clerk is also a critical vote.

So many more of the decisions that impact your lives every day are made at the state and local level than the federal one. I know the top of the ticket is two old white dudes. Neither is my first choice. But I’m voting because I care about my community, and you should, too.