Thread by @cmclymer

There are less than 3 days until the election and as with every cycle, there are folks who believe their vote doesn't matter. But if you ask anyone who was living in Virginia in 2017 + voted, regardless of their party, they'll tell you a single vote can mean everything. (thread)

New Jersey and Virginia have their elections in odd-numbered years, and the 2017 gubernatorial and legislature elections were seen as the first big referendums on the Trump White House. At the time, Democrats were very pessimistic. 2016 had rattled us for obvious reasons.

But folks were volunteering and canvassing and calling voters, and on election night, it paid off. Big. Ralph Northam was elected governor in a near-landslide. Dems swept statewide offices. But the big surprise was the State House...

The Virginia House of Delegates had been in GOP control for 18 years, and they held a dominating 66-34 majority. But that night--despite all the doubts--campaigns, organizers, and volunteers shocked the political world by nearly swinging control of the chamber to Dems.

Kelly Fowler and Kathy Tran became the first AAPI women elected to the House. Elizabeth Guzmán and Hala Ayala became the first Hispanic women elected to the House. Dawn Adams was the first openly-lesbian candidate elected to the House. Four of them beat GOP incumbents.

Lee Carter, a Marine veteran and democratic socialist, took down the GOP Majority Whip. Chris Hurst, whose girlfriend was shot and killed on live television, campaigned on gun reform and beat the NRA-backed, GOP incumbent in his district.

And Danica Roem, who just would not shut up about traffic + infrastructure policy in her district, defeated 13-term GOP incumbent and "chief homophobe" Bob Marshall and became the first openly-trans person elected to a state legislature in American history.

In one night, in a state where Dems had struggled previously to make gains in the House, they almost took the whole damn thing. Almost. And with just *one* more voter going to the polls in District 94 that night, they would have.

In District 94, the race between GOP incumbent David Yancey and Shelley Simonds came down to the thinnest of margins. Yancey unofficially had just a 12-vote lead out of nearly 24,000 votes cast. And then it got really interesting.

The official count dropped Yancey's lead to just 10 votes, and after a recount in December, Simonds was declared the winner by just one vote. But then, a previously uncounted ballot that had been marked for both candidates was ruled by a three-judge panel for Yancey.

So, they tied. It was odd because Yancey's campaign didn't argue for the ballot's inclusion during the recount, but the court said tough, and they moved the conclusion of the race to drawing names out of a bowl. Yes, you read that right.

24,000 votes in District 94--and the millions who had voted in one of the most surprising shifts of statewide elected representation in American history--came down to drawing a name out of a ceramic bowl.

Pretty damn sad and ridiculous. All of that hard work and the voter's will fail short by just one vote for the entire state.

Those who say this can't happen nationally are fooling themselves. Imagine a scenario like that...

Let's say Biden wins, but control of the Senate comes down to a close race in South Carolina or Iowa or Texas or Alaska or any of the other states that are in play for Democratic pickups in the Senate. Imagine one of those comes down to a tie + courts intervene to favor the GOP.

Or... let's say Biden and Trump come down to a state like Florida or Pennsylvania or Wisconsin, where the GOP successfully got SCOTUS to nix a rule that would have permitted absentee ballots to be counted six days after the election so long as they're postmarked by Election Day.

Instead, absentee ballots in Wisconsin must be received by 8pm on Election Day in order to be counted. Problems with the USPS being overworked and the ballot gets lost in the backlog of mail sorting and delivering? In the military and living overseas? Tough, says SCOTUS!

Kavanaugh's concurrence in the majority decision was widely criticized. First for being so inaccurate he had to issue a correction (nyti.ms/2TGZpFW) and second for being poorly reasoned on its face. Read this from @mjs_DC: bit.ly/3oLHHz6

But imagine what happens in these circumstances. It comes down to Wisconsin, Trump leads by a single vote, and thousands of absentee ballots postmarked by the Election are denied. It goes to SCOTUS and they hand the election to Trump. It really could happen.

Your vote matters. Your friend's vote matters. Your relative's vote matters. Your neighbor's vote matters. All of these could be the difference between a brighter future and four more years of Trump's nightmarish nonsense.

So, with 3 days left...

Make sure you have a plan to vote: iwillvote.com

Make some calls for Biden: joebiden.com/call/

And for the Senate seat in Iowa for @GreenfieldIowa: iowademocrats.org/call/

And in South Carolina for @harrisonjaime: jaimeharrison.com/gotv/

And in Alaska for @DrAlGrossAK: bit.ly/34Js17s

And in Texas for @mjhegar: mjfortexas.com/calls/

And in Georgia for @ReverendWarnock and @ossoff: bit.ly/2HO0sRI

And in Kansas for @BarbaraBollier: bollierforkansas.com/action/

In Maine for @SaraGideon: bit.ly/34HwE26

In Mississippi for @MikeEspyMS: mobilize.us/espyforsenate/…

In Alabama for @DougJones: onealabamaaction.com/call-voters

In Montana for @GovernorBullock: bit.ly/37YT5Ss

In NC for @CalforNC: calfornc.com/get-involved/

In Arizona for @CaptMarkKelly: markkelly.com/get-involved/

In Colorado for @Hickenlooper: hickenlooper.com/volunteer/

In Kentucky for @AmyMcGrathKY: mobilize.us/amymcgrath/

In Michigan for @GaryPeters: petersformichigan.com/get-involved/

In Louisiana for @PerkinsforLA: perkinsforla.com

We have less than three days, and none of us wanna wake up on Nov. 4th wondering if we could have done more. That's a terrible feeling. Make sure you do your part in getting out the vote. Take back the White House and Senate and watch change happen. Let's bring it home. /thread