Participating is not only a civic duty and responsibility, it lets you view democracy in action, with all of its warts.
Now I'll tell you a story.
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One of Putin's criticisms of democracy is that it's "messy."
Dictatorship and autocracy, by contrast, are streamlined and not messy.
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I have no political agenda in telling you this story. It's just a story.
When I was in law school fascinated by election law, I went to hear a lecture.
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I went to the "elections lawyer" lecture.
He told this story. (This was a few decades ago, so this is as accurately as I remember the story.)
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The worker in charge of the polling place was somehow left alone after the polling place closed. She packed up the ballots and brought them to her car.
She forgot to close the top of the box.
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She thought about what to do.🤔
She got an idea 💡
(The emoticons are my embellishment. They were not part of the lecture 😂)
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She ruined them all.
What's that saying about not attributing to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity?
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The reason lawyers work elections, and people like you should apply to be elections judges is so that these decisions are closely monitored.
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I was in the "boiler room" in Georgia during the recent fiasco there. ("Boiler room' = a group of lawyers handing problems.)
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But then, it might not be. States and voter rights groups are preparing.
GA, to take one example, now has dropoff places for absentee ballots. The populated areas are working to accommodate people going to polls.
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Are there any college students in your family? Inspire them to get involved! Talk about their future and their need to own the democracy!
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CA, for example, lets people drop off their absentee ballot at the polling place on election day.
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You don't put stress on already-stressed polling places.
Think through the best way for you to vote.
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