If it isn't obvious, the main tactic will continue to be Black voter suppression. The best thing white folks can do is assist voter turnout.
From my experience doing GOTV in Ohio, this is going to get much uglier than it already is. What this poll
shows is that we need to clear the paths.
From: @mekkaokereke
https://hachyderm.io/@mekkaokereke/112847353808292270
@karabaic @mekkaokereke Right before I left the US South for good, I noticed just how much harder it had become to get a mail vote in Georgia, for instance.
In 2021 Georgia changed the law to require you to use a *printer* to:
A) print out the form
B) sign it
C) scan it
D) send it via email.
Prior to this, you could just sign it on an iPad or your phone.
There was only one reason why this change was made, and it wasn't to make voting "safer".
@karabaic @mekkaokereke This change was made so that voting by mail would be restricted to only those who either had A) access to a printer, or B) maintained one of their own. Both are things that are getting extremely rare today.
And of course, since this is Georgia, you have to pay for your own stamp.
Meanwhile, in Michigan, I am on the "permanent mail vote" list, where for every election I just receive my vote, complete it, and send it back, with pre-paid postage.
And in Washington, we all - without doing a thing - get ballots mailed to us. Every election. With a guide. And it’s free to mail back. Boggles my mind that this isn’t everywhere in the US. I get to vote over my morning coffee (or several mornings!) while arguing positions with a partner, and it’s fantastic.
@jonobie @mdm @karabaic @mekkaokereke
Minnesota consistently has the highest voter turnout in the country. We have:
- mail-in voting
- and numerous in-person voting locations
- usually in walking distance
- including in majority minority neighborhoods
- and same-day registration
- that accepts a •wide• variety of forms of proof of residence
- and robust support systems for al the above
We should also take a page from WA with the passive mail ballots!! That’s great.
@inthehands @jonobie @mdm @karabaic @mekkaokereke My one objection to voting rules here in #Minnesota is the witness requirement for voting by mail.
When I was living out-of-state for school but still voting here; I had to find the one person on campus who was a notary in order to vote. It was always a hassle.
Now there is a provision for any other Minnesota voter to witness the ballot; but that doesn't help out-of-state.
And California & Washington manage just fine for without any such rule.
@michael_w_busch Wow -- Michigan also has no such requirement.
Wait -- did it really need to be *notarized*? Even Georgia didn't require that. :\
@mdm The current vote by mail rules from the #Minnesota Secretary of State's office: https://www.sos.state.mn.us/elections-voting/other-ways-to-vote/vote-early-by-mail/
"Who can witness my ballot?
You will need a witness when you vote and complete your ballot. The witness can be either a registered Minnesota voter or a notary."
I keep complaining about this to my members of the Minnesota state legislature.
(On the other hand, all one needs to get a ballot by mail is to fill out the form online - or by mail or in person in a county election office.)
@michael_w_busch @inthehands @jonobie @mdm @karabaic @mekkaokereke
> Now there is a provision for any other Minnesota voter to witness the ballot; but that doesn't help out-of-state.
This has not been required when voting from abroad under UOCAVA — either in the federal-only ballot or the everything case — for at least eight years.
I'll also add: the MN election board was profoundly helpful in transferring my state affiliation under UOCAVA from California to MN in the vote-from-abroad case.
@matt @inthehands @jonobie @mdm @karabaic @mekkaokereke Voting internationally in Minnesota I cannot speak to.
Good to learn that it is relatively easy.
@inthehands @jonobie @mdm @karabaic @mekkaokereke CA transitioned to fully supporting absentee balloting during the pandemic. It's fantastic. But if I've learned anything as a US voter, it's this: if your state is indifferent or hostile to mail-in voting, the reason is almost certainly "racism".
@klausfiend @inthehands @jonobie @mdm @karabaic @mekkaokereke It can also be because you have candidates who like to tout the military but won't support it.
@klausfiend @inthehands @jonobie @mdm @karabaic @mekkaokereke If I learned anything about the US, ranging from butter pecan ice cream, how New York has a central park, where space for highways comes from to how day-long voter queues exist...
Always start by assuming racism. If it's not, you might as well be surprised.
@dascandy @inthehands @jonobie @mdm @karabaic @mekkaokereke wait, what's the deal with butter pecan ice cream?!
@mekkaokereke @dascandy @inthehands @jonobie @mdm @karabaic Wow. Just ... wow.
@klausfiend @inthehands @jonobie @mdm @karabaic @mekkaokereke
No quotes need. It is due to racism, pure and simple.
@slotrak
(Quotes above don’t mean “so-called,” but rather “the thing a hypothetical person would utter” and/or “the text itself functions as a noun,” as in this sentence.)