Friends,

The election results are unlikely to be officiated on November 3rd. There are a lot of mail-in ballots that will need to be counted, and there may be some areas where recounts happen.

We cannot necessarily expect to know who our next president is that night.

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Why is this important?

Because we must remain observant and calm. We cannot succumb to Trump's provocations.

He's likely to try to declare victory or say that the election is invalid. But he doesn't have the power to do either.

And I need to ask you all to hear me out.

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The GOP have, throughout Trump's presidency, gaslit us, instigated, and tried to create violent reactions so they can use that as the basis to assume greater power and shift the narrative toward one of democrats being "rioters and looters".

Obviously we aren't, but ...

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If we're allowed to fall in to the trap of impulsive emotional reactions as the GOP try to provoke us, we could lose the election in a whole different way. By losing control of our movement.

We cannot allow that to happen. I do not think it is high risk, but it's a risk.

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I've discussed the 2020 election with some of the contacts I have within the Federal government (who are not part of this regime, mind you, but long time civil servants).

The advice I keep hearing is let democracy do what it needs to do--get the results before you react.

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So my plea is to heed these wise words: stay observant and calm as the votes are counted.

It could take days or even weeks before we know who our next President is and what the composition of the legislature may be.

There are plenty of actions we can take during this time.

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First, if we live in areas that are closely contested, we can form advocacy groups with our friends, family, neighbors, and colleagues to put constructive pressure on election officials that are counting the results.

We want to ensure they don't stop, no matter what.

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The reason that we want every ballot counted is that the vast majority that go uncounted would likely be mail-in ballots that are going to be much more democratic voters than republicans. These ballots are of enormous value to our voices being heard within this democracy.

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Second, we need to keep pressure on our local/national news to keep covering this. They can't let the "news cycle" expire and take their eyes off of the ball.

Journalistic pressure can create the motivation for election officials to do right by the electorate.

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Third, sign up to be a volunteer that counts mail-in ballots! A lot of districts are going to need them as there will be an unprecedented amount of them to record!

Many localities are taking and training volunteers up until the last minute wherever they need to do so.

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Fourth, if you are working at the polls, take photos of the final results. Make sure that information is recorded so if there is any manipulation attempts of data after the fact we have verifiable documentation to challenge such attempts in court.

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Fifth, form watch groups. We have many reports of voter intimidation and during the 2000 election we also had election official intimidation in Miami-Dade county by GOPers for Bush. Report any attempts by the GOP to intimidate election officials to law enforcement and media.

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Sixth, write op-eds for your local paper about the importance of complete, full and fair elections, as well as representative democracy. Discuss why we need to count every ballot. Create a narrative for transparency to counter that of the GOP's meritless allegations of fraud. 13/

Seventh, and last, spread the word about this thread.

Consider retweeting the first post -- or be amazing and retweet them all.

We need to get the word out!

Now let's go about making some history together. :)

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