Hey Americans, feeling politically powerless? You have an election tomorrow. Fascists are targeting those boring state and local positions and using them for everything from abortion restrictions to book bans to criminalizing trans healthcare. It's up to you to stop them.
What are they voting for tomorrow if the presidential elections are not till Nov 2024?
Follow @taniel & @bolts@journa.host for info on elections tomorrow around the US.
Here's one guide he published on @Bolts of170+ races nationwide:
https://mastodon.social/@taniel@journa.host/111354383682770657
@zleap @maxkennerly The entire state of Virginia legislature. Control of the state house hangs in the balance, and probably the right-wing Republican governor's future national political prospects as well.
@paulawhyman @zleap @maxkennerly this is the most significant, but there are countless local elections all over the country. Focusing on a presidential election is how we end up with broken nationalized politics, and the small local elections can have outsized effects on someone's day to day existence
Women should be voting to retain their civil rights, including the right to vote.
Reminder that GOP strategist Nate Silver was paid in 2016 to model electoral maps where women can't vote.
Why would he be paid to do that? Unless voter suppression tactics for the young was in play?
https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2023/07/12/voting-patterns-in-the-2022-elections/
@Npars01 @zleap @maxkennerly What on earth are you talking about.
@AGTMADCAT @Npars01 @maxkennerly
Well I just asked what people where voting for
@zleap @Npars01 @maxkennerly Yes friend, not you - I can't make sense of Nicole's post, that's what I was directly referring to. =)
@AGTMADCAT@infosec.exchange @zleap @maxkennerly
What I was suggesting is that the same GOP playbook that was used to erode voting access for black voters, is also being used to erode women's access to the ballot.
Republican billionaire donors are funding an anti-democracy movement where only a select few will have a voice in democracy.
White. Male. Christian. Wealthy.
@zleap @maxkennerly In order to reduce voter turnout and help the right wing party retain power without majority support from voters, a lot of critical races are conducted in "off" years. Without the headline grabbing presidential race or at least congressional elections, many voters don't know that an election is even happening.
In some better states (e.g. California) this inequity has been addressed by making it law to have all regular elections be conducted in the even years, to increase voter participation and strengthen democracy.
@zleap @maxkennerly Here in #Minnesota, we have city government and school board elections.
Which a group of extremists are trying to use to promote racist, sexist, heterosexist, and cissexist book bans and harass & discriminate against trans & nonbinary kids.
They must not be allowed to do that.
(Said extremists are mostly running for office in the suburbs of the Twin Cities - in Saint Paul and Minneapolis they could not make it to the election.)
This is really worrying and also terrifying how the US can just sleepwalk in to this.
@zleap Hence the importance of everyone who can vote in the US voting by tomorrow; as @maxkennerly wrote.
Unfortunately, I learn from @sundogplanets and others that this particular set of tactics by omnibigoted authoritarians has also been exported north of the line.
@zleap Depends on the state and municipality. For example, I am voting for:
State: Supreme court, appellate court, and trial court judges
County: county commissioners, district attorney, sheriff
Local: school board members, township commissioners