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Emma Atkinson @eatkinso
, 6 tweets, 2 min read Read on Twitter
Yesterday, 39% of eligible voters voted in the Vancouver municipal election. Also yesterday, 3 million registered voters (34%) turned out to vote in Afghanistan despite very real (and realized) threats of violence. Thirty-six people died, 130 were injured. (1/6)
I know this sounds super melodramatic, but I find it so disappointing when I hear people (all over the ideological spectrum) saying "why bother?" or "I've never met a politician that didn't disappoint me". That is such an easy, contemptuous, and useless position to take. (2/6)
Sometimes it's a position I feel like taking. And if I let myself sink into that feeling, I will always have the satisfaction of feeling right. But I'm not convinced I'll have anything else. (3/6)
Democracy is not perfect, politics is frustrating, late-stage capitalism sucks. But it is SUCH A GIFT to vote safely in what is now Canada. My heart positively overflows at the privilege of ticking those boxes. (4/6)
People (politicians) like @Dave_Eby, @MeganALeslie, @christineeboyle don't disappoint me, they are the tonic to my disenchantment. Affecting political change is often (always?) excruciatingly incremental and we can respond by being relentlessly incremental... (5/6)
...And by voting. And by exulting in the act of voting!

Okay, Sunday afternoon tirade over... But in the spirit of relentless incrementalism, here's some proportional representation info comin' your way: policynote.ca/getting-to-pro…

(6/6)
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Very little is clear about the Kavanaugh effect. Trump's approval has gotten better but the generic ballot hasn't for the GOP, and has maybe gotten worse for them among likely voters.
Also, the theory that like Dem enthusiasm was already capped out pre-Kavanaugh doesn't make sense. Only 40-45% of the eligible voters typically vote in the midterms. That's quite low! You can never have enough enthusiasm. You're never really near the point of diminishing returns.
For instance, if GOP voters turned out at a rate that was really high for a midterm, but Democrats turned out at a rate that was on the *low* end for a *presidential year*, you'd have a massive, massive Democratic wave.
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💥IMPORTANT VOTER INFORMATION💥

If you show up to the polls and you are not registered to vote, here is what you can do.

Please retweet this to spread the word.

@jonlovett @jonfavs @TVietor08 #vote #VoterRegistration #BlueWave #BlueWave2018 #VoteSaveAmerica #VotingMatters
17 states plus the District of Columbia offer same day registration (SDR), any qualified resident of the state can register to vote and cast a ballot all in that day.

ncsl.org/research/elect…
Provisional Ballot Laws are laws that require a provisional ballot upon verification of the identity of the voter if a voter fails to present proper identification at the polls or when registering before voter registration deadlines.

ballotpedia.org/State_by_State…
Read 14 tweets
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This is a good article, talking about problems that we have to, that the GOP won't and that we CAN fix! But first, just #Vote damnit!
#SundayMotivation
The Myth of the Lazy Nonvoter
nyti.ms/2CvoRaT
2/"If history is any indicator, only around 40 percent of eligible voters will vote in the midterm elections. Most people assume that voter turnout remains this low because Americans are apathetic and simply don’t want to vote. But it’s more likely that most Americans do want to
3/"vote, and one of the root causes of low turnout is this country’s framework of restrictive voting laws. The United States is unique in allowing state laws to largely govern voting in federal elections. Ever since key federal protections were dismantled by the Supreme Court in
Read 41 tweets
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#BrettKavanaugh is the ninth Justice of the Supreme Court. 1/
A man who has been proven to have lied under oath multiple times about his role in torture under Bush43 and about multiple details surrounding at least 2 (possibly 3) credible allegations of sexual assault made against him... 2/
A man who wrote that Native Hawaiians (and by extension Native Americans) are NOT due the terms of their treaties with the US—sovereignty over their own elections... 3/
Read 22 tweets
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GOP is getting ready for hell. Thanks to their control of Congress, Republicans have blocked most of Democrats’ investigative requests. If House flips and the GOP loses its power, Trump Admin isn't ready for the investigatory onslaught that awaits them.
axios.com/2018-midterm-e…
For crying out loud #vote #vote #vote
The most dangerous thing right now is if Dems become complacent and take a win for granted. Please register to vote AND VOTE EARLY TO AVOID FRUSTRATION
Read 3 tweets
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Let’s add a little context to the discussion of voting security in the US. To do that, I’m going to do something Computer Scientists are bad at - I’m going to talk about history. Specifically, let’s look at the Help America #Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002. 1/
The reason to talk about HAVA is to start recognizing some of the challenges of paper ballot-based voting. HAVA came about largely because paper ballots were proving to be extremely difficult to manage. 2/
For instance, paper ballots are expensive (they’re not printed on standard college-rule paper), and they’re not reusable across elections. You’ve also got to try and guess who is going to show up to the poll, and how many ballots you’ll need in each language. 3/
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