Eric Piehl comments on ☑ voting in your next election

Why vote? Step 1:  Register to vote

Step 2:  How to vote Step 3:  Vote informed
Step 4:  ☑ VOTE!

Step 5:  Contact your elected officials Step 6:  Futures

Why vote?

Many elections are won or lost by less than one or two percent;  some by only a few tens or hundreds of votes.  It happens every election cycle.  When we vote, we do make a difference.

You 👥︎ Generation-Y and Generation-Z young people have more at stake than us geezers.  We boomers will help you while we can, but really, the future is up to you.

If you are Gen-Y, Gen-Z, or a cool Boomer who understands urban symbology, please see Eminem video Mosh to above or right, with support by the lyrics version.   For full effect, display videos fullscreen via icons ▶ Play then ⛶ broken-square.

This page provides some resources, to help you, with minimum work, VOTE:

• In every election—in my precinct, the Primary elections are where the real decisions are made.
• In every race—including those down-ballot races:  Initiatives, judgeships and Drain Commissioner!

If you think you might run into 🛂︎ trouble while voting, there are remedies.  Please review and 📄 print information in the 🛂︎ trouble section below.

Women weren't given the right to vote— they fought for it.   Remember that as your next election nears.

Let's get started!

Step 1:  Register to vote

Right now …

Step 2:  How to vote

A month before you vote, or now if you don't know when that might be, …

While you are printing stuff, if you think you might run into 🛂︎ trouble while voting, please 📄 print anything you might need from the 🛂︎ trouble section below.

As it gets closer to time to vote, you will use your sample ballot to …

Step 3:  Vote informed

A few days before you vote (I like Sunday, after the kids are in bed), …

Take your 📄 sample ballot (from the previous step ) (paper is better—your 🛂︎ poll workers may have rules against using a phone in the voting booth),
and mark it up in accordance with your values, and information from (sorted by mixture of usefulness and alphabetical):

• Campaign flyers I received in the mail.  As they come in, I just put them in a stack, until I am ready to do this analysis and mark up my sample ballot.  Their presence tells me if locals are serious, or campaign tourists.  Or are being promoted by outside organizations.
  
  
• Right to Life endorsements:  🇺🇸 USA 50 states + DC (personalize myState).   Michigan.   Drills into judgeships and local boards that are otherwise difficult to research.
  
  
• Michigan Family Forum:  Michigan > Resources > Michigan Voter's Guide.   Available shortly before General Elections, this is a great list of endorsements from Farm Bureau, the Chamber of Commerce, and a variety of environmental, labor and LGBT organizations.  One-stop shop!
  
  
• Clean Water Action:  🇺🇸 USA 50 states + DC   Michigan > Endorsements.
  
  
• Emily's List:  🇺🇸 USA 50 states + DC navigation links Our Candidates > state and local candidates, House, Senate and Governors.
  
  
• League of Conservation Voters LCV endorsements:  🇺🇸 USA 50 states + DC   yourState.
  League of Conservation Voters LCV scorecard:  🇺🇸 USA 50 states + DC.
  
  
• Progressive Voters Guide:  Washington State.
  
  
• Progressive Women's Alliance:  West Michigan.
  
  
• Sierra Club endorsements:  🇺🇸 USA 50 states + DC > link Federal Endorsements   Michigan > link Sierra Club endorsed candidates and voter information.
  
  
• League of Women Voters LWV:  🇺🇸 USA 50 states + DC > box Voter Guide or button Enter My Address in lower-right > button Show My Races > see each entry.
  Michigan 2018 Voter Guide (print version online viewer) Michigan 2018 Voter Guide (.pdf).
  
  
• Personal recommendations by me:
• Personal recommendations to me:  Visible only on my private site.
  
  
• Helps on judges:  🇺🇸 USA 50 states + DC (do last, not sure I like it).
  
  
• Your 📰︎ local newspaper's editorial page , including what they think on topics of the day, such as good governance, gerrymandering and voting systems.
  
  
• For any races in which you still have no information, ☑ check websites of organizations with which you disagree.  Or vote for the woman!

While you go through this information, don't be afraid to vote for the lessor of two evils.  Until we get instant-runoff / preferential / ranked-choice voting RCV described below we may have to hold our nose, and choose the least offensive candidate.

Step 4:  ☑ Vote!

If voting in person, on that day, …

• Take your 📄 marked-up sample ballot (from the previous two steps ), and fold it into your pocket.  Yes, it is legal to bring this paper into the voting booth with you—your 🛂︎ poll workers may have rules against using a phone in the voting booth.
• Bring your 🆔 government-issued picture-ID, or be prepared for 🛂︎ poll workers to make you a provisional ballot—hold them to it—it is your right to vote in this manner.
• ☑ Vote when and where you found out two steps above.
• If presented with several precincts, and you don't know your precinct number, ask a friendly poll worker (probably one of your neighbors), or turn around—there is probably a precinct map posted on a wall or table nearby.
• When you get into the ballot booth, unfold your marked-up sample ballot to cast your ballot quickly and accurately.  Including all those down-ballot races:  Initiatives, judgeships and Drain Commissioner!

If any 🛂︎ trouble while voting, in the 🇺🇸 USA, call the

• U.S. Department of Justice Voting Rights Hotline ☎ 1-800-253-3931,
• ACLU Election Protection Hotline:
  ◦ in English   ☎ 1-866-OUR-VOTE
  ◦ en Español ☎ 1-888-VE-Y-VOTA
  ◦ in Arabic     ☎ 1-844-418-1682  بالعربية
  ◦ Asian multilingual ☎ 1-888-API-VOTE or
• Michigan Bureau of Elections ☎ 1-517-373-2540.

  — 🇺🇸 ACLU series Know Your Rights Voter Intimidation 📄 printable card (.pdf)
      ( Michigan ACLU Know Your Voting Rights in English 📄 [.pdf] en Español 📄 [.pdf] in Arabic 📄 [.pdf]  بالعربية ).
If you see something, say something!

After you vote:

• Give yourself a pat on the back for exercising your sacred civic duty.  Thank you for helping save the world!
• Save your marked-up sample ballot for a day or two, to see if you are a leader or a follower.  Then ♻ recycle!

Step 5:  Contact your elected officials

🚧 Under construction

In our polarized safe-seat gerrymandered culture-war world, I am not so sure contacting our elected officials does as much good as it did before.  Maybe at the local level it does.  Local meetings are great.  As are chance encounters at the hardware store—so have your elevator pitch ready.

Until demographic-shifts end of our culture-war, some contact info:  🇺🇸 USA 50 states + DC   Michigan.

Step 6:  Futures

If you:

• want to increase voter participation,

then support Automatic Voter Registration AVG, and same-day voter registration SDR (aka Election Day voter registration EDR).

If you:

• don't like having your General election results predetermined in the Primary,
• don't like the candidate choices you have been given,
• want candidates to reach out to you,

then support an end to gerrymandering "Geometry versus Gerrymandering."  Scientific American.  November 2018. (Michigan Radio story) (Michigan organization Voters Not Politicians).

If you:

• don't like having to vote in a Primary then a General election,
• don't like the candidate choices you have been given,
• want to choose from more than just the two frontrunners,
• are tired of negative campaigning,
• want candidates to reach out to you even in a party-safe gerrymandered district or non-battleground state,
• want to prevent future "spoiler" candidates such as Ralph Nader 2000 or Jill Stein 2016,

then support instant-runoff / preferential / ranked-choice voting RCV as used in Maine and 11 US cities,
replacing the winner-takes-all / single-winner plurality / first-past-the-post electoral system currently existing in most of our States, with all of its flaws described above.

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--Eric Piehl comments on web vote.html v1.0.4.5 2019-03-09, copyright © 2018-2019 by Eric Piehl.