This is it — voting day!
Hopefully, you’re one of the many people who’ve taken advantage of the option to vote early in one form or another. If not, then please take the time out of your day today to go by your local polling place and cast your vote.
Don’t let the news scare you away, either. If the race follows the polls — and keep in mind, that’s still a big “if” — then the big networks could be calling the election long before many people on the West coast have a chance to vote. Don’t let that stop you! Anyone who remembers the last two presidential races (especially 2000) knows how eager the networks are to declare a winner, long before most votes are cast, and with plenty of time for things to change. Besides, there’s a lot more than just the presidential race at stake here, there are tons of Senate, House, and local seats and measures that you can have input on.
Know your voting rights! Hopefully this won’t be an issue for you, but better to be prepared. Don’t let goons from the other side (whichever side that may be) keep you from voting. If you do have problems, know what to do:
If you see something weird or discomfiting or arguably illegal going on at your polling place tomorrow. don’t post about it here. Or, at least, don’t post first.
You’ve got two choices tomorrow as to where to phone in your information, and I’m going to advocate doing both. First off, there’s Obama Voter Protection:
Call 1-877-US-4-OBAMA (1-877-874-6226) and let them know what problems you’re seeing. If you can’t get through, use this online form and/or call your local campaign HQ.
Alternately, or in addition, I strongly encourage you to call Election Protection, a nonpartisan organization:
- For immediate assistance, call the 866-OUR-VOTE hotline.
- To report problems to Election Protection’s state teams through Twitter, use these guidelines.
- Track incident reports received through the hotline at OurVoteLive.org
- Keep an eye on voting issues as they are reported at the OurVoteLive Blog
- Follow breaking voting news and issues at the 866OurVote Twitter account
We all love being able to break news here about what we’re seeing, but what matters most tomorrow is giving that information to people who can do something about it . And then … wait, what are you doing at a computer in the first place on Election Day? Get out there. Do More Than Vote.
Lawyers like me will be at polling places all over the country tomorrow to protect every citizen’s right to vote in an atmosphere free of intimidation, coercion and deception. But we can’t do anything if we don’t know what the problem is. So don’t post it here — call it in.
It’s time for a change, people. Make this one count.