Thread by @dogemperor

As I never exactly had trust in institutions to save us other than the ballot box, I'm going to educate folks on what they need to be doing between now and November 5th 2024

Because the only poll that counts at the end is the voting polls and we need to zerg rush the polls

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https://twitter.com/RMGaustad/status/1762967684571099223

So the first thing you need to do (if you are over 18 and legally eligible to vote--you're a US citizen, you're not in a state with felony disenfranchisement, presumably you're not in prison reading this on Xitter) is REGISTER.

Different states have different deadlines

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Once you are registered, find out your state's registration deadline, and check you are registered to vote a month before the election and periodically check (including daily in the last two weeks) to make sure you don't get caught in a voter purge, esp. if in a red state

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And the next thing to do is to make a voting plan--make sure you find out how voting works (if your state does mail-in ballots, or does no-excuse early voting, I highly encourage you to take advantage of this)

And if doing mail-in make sure your ballot is in on time

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Now the good news is, there's a lot of good "get out the vote" sites like Vote 411 that actually make this easy

And I'll also bring up some scenarios and info that can be useful to people on voting days, in special situations, etc.

5/xvote411.org/make-your-plan

Firstly: If you've been convicted of a felony and have served your sentence, and are in a state with felony disenfranchisement, look up your state's procedure to have civil rights restored including voting; contact the board of elections on restoration in your state

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Secondly: People with disabilities that prevent travel may in many states be eligible for mail-order ballots even in states that don't normally do mail-in; again, Vote411 has a map you can click on per state on rules for how to apply

7/xvote411.org/select-state

Thirdly: Almost every state has a special exemption that if you are working as a poll worker or assisting in getting people to the polls you are allowed to do early voting; likewise, if you're going to be out of town on the days your area normally does voting

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Fourthly: Many public transit agencies nationwide offer free rides to polling places, and in past Uber and Lyft have provided reduced cost transport; if you live in a city, the local Urban League often organizes rides to the polls if you need a ride and can't get there

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Fifthly: Educate yourself on the issues, and why (unfortunately) voting third party or not voting is *not* a good strategy for general election. (Due to the Electoral College, it's actually almost impossible for a third party candidate to get a majority.)

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I get you might think all the candidates suck. That's not something you change in a single election, and I have suggestions for that too, but we have to get through THIS one and make sure we CAN vote in 2026.

And yes, it *is* likely to be the last election if we lose.

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One of the things to educate yourself on, and educate others on, is Project 2025--aka the Christian Nationalists' 5-year plan for turning the US into the Republic of Gilead and establishing Trump as Dictator-for-Life that's due to start the FIRST DAY of a Trump admin.

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Here's a good short primer on that whole Project 2025 thing:


That's the short version.

The long version, straight from the horse's mouth, is a 920 page manifesto of Christian Nationalism

13/xmichiganadvance.com/2024/01/16/pro…
msmagazine.com/2024/02/08/pro…

Here's the long version of it:

The really short version is, if you let the authors of this win--by not voting, or voting third party--this document in full happens, and there won't be another election in 2026 or 2028 or potentially *ever*.

14/xthf_media.s3.amazonaws.com/project2025/20…

So a lot of the issues folks legitimately want to deal with, like forgiveness of student loan debt, and expanding the Supreme Court, and pretty much anything else not involving Christian Nationalist soldiers marching to war against the rest of us depends on voting in 2024

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So. The first task of homework is to make sure you're registered to vote, and CHECK that registration the month before registration deadline ends

And then make your voting plan, make plans for how to mail ballot/vote early/vote in person, and get it done

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The second task of your homework is to reach out to everyone you know who isn't a MAGAt--who might be curious about voting, or who may be pissed off that abortion got banned, or they can't get IVF, or they Just Don't Like TFG--and get THEM to read this and vote

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And yes, I encourage sharing this! That's part of your homework too! I'll be including an easily shareable link at the bottom so that you can share this with other people.

And then I want you to encourage THEM to share it with other folks THEY know who aren't MAGAts.

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And if you have to get a Tiktok or a Discord up or a Facebook group up of friends who are all gonna carpool to the voting place or who are going to send in their mail-in ballots together DO THAT. Seriously! Educate each other especially on local candidates!

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And for folks who note "But the people running are too old" or "The people running aren't progressive enough":

Yeah, I know, it sucks. But right now we're on Hamburger Hill and just fighting to make sure *we have another election* where we can move things a bit more

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And I know a lot of people want sudden change. I'll note that sudden change tends to come mostly from mass "people power" action, both in street protest AND at the ballot box, and right now we need to make sure the latter is available at ALL in 2026 and onwards.

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And if we can manage to keep The Former Guy and his Christian Nationalist handlers away from the "Institute Dictatorship" button in 2024 by coming out en masse, we can START to right the ship.

Part of THAT will be folks like YOU being the change you want to see.

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So one of the things you can do--and I'd actually STRONGLY encourage it--is running for office yourself. If you're under 30, there's even an explicit group called "Run for Something" helping younger folks get started for running for offices

23/xrunforsomething.net/run/

And this is actually something progressives NEED, as this is basically *how* Christian Nationalists have gotten so many of their own in (relying on people not coming out to vote, and in many cases training people from high school or college for political office)

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So yes, be the change you want to see in the world, if we can manage to keep voting as a THING in 2024 by coming out in numbers, we can get younger folks in by 2026, and start swinging things back to being, well, respectful of EVERYONE and not just Christian Nationalists

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But again: The important thing, the MOST important thing right now, is voting in 2024 and making sure you vote for those who will NOT take the vote away from you.

Vote as if it will be the last vote you ever cast, because if we don't have enough, *it will be*.

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But that's your homework:
a) make sure you're registered
b) make a voting plan
c) make sure you share this with EVERYONE you know who isn't a MAGAt, and make sure THEY'RE registered and have a voting plan
d) share this, have your friends share, and VOTE

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In the end, the only ones who will save us are us, and there is a LONG history of how organized "people power" can actually crush dictatorships.

And the best damn shot we have, and have ever had, is coming at them with the power of numbers.

Let's vote like *hell*.

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@threadreaderapp unroll

(see, told you I had a sharable link)

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