I promised myself a few years ago that if I saw a certain type of headline, I would use it to remind people to check their voter registration status. And I just saw such a headline:
Georgia Cancels 101,000 Voter Registrations
Now interestingly, this story also came with a dash of good news (and you all know how much I like my silver linings). When Georgia officials first notified the public that they would be canceling registrations, grassroots organizations got to work and proactively reached out to voters on that list. They were successful in reactivating several hundred registrations thanks to their efforts!
But, I get frustrated when I see that the bulk of the efforts to stay registered falls to grassroots efforts like these. Once a voter is registered, they should remain registered, whether or not they vote. Better yet, all citizens should be automatically registered at 18 and remain active on the voter rolls, until they pass away or commit a felony that strips them of that right.
I recognize that individual counties want to have clean voter rolls, and deceased voters or folks who have moved need to come off, but Republicans have weaponized voter purges to scoop up eligible voters and kick them off. Voting is our right as citizens and no one should have to face the hurdle of having to re-register, or worse, find out they’re no longer registered on Election Day when it might be too late to vote depending on what state you live in.
So please, take 2 minutes to check your voter registration status today by visiting your own state’s election website or by going to I Will Vote.
If you can spare 2 more minutes, write a social media post reminding people to check their registration by using one of the above websites.
Thank you for taking action!
Categories: Take Action
Just a suggestion, but the way we do it in Canada is a question on our income tax forms every year, do you want to be on the Voter”s List? YES or No? It is a bit different where you know ahead of time when your elections will be held. We in Canada do not, as note, the new useless election call announced on Monday for a unnecessary pop-up election on Sept. 20 of this year.
Taxes are something everyone fills out every year, and I am not sure about this, but I think if you do not answer NO then whatever you last answered stays in effect, just in case you are too lazy to check a box. In the US you could make it that once you have answered either YES or NO that answer will be in effect the until you change it by indicating that with another check mark. If you die during the year, for which a different box is checked for you, you are automatically removed from the Voter”s List. As far as being found guilty of committing a felony, why should that preclude you from having a vote? You are still a citizen of your nation, and should have the right to vote if you choose to do so, INHO. You are already being punished by being in prison–how many punishments do you need to get. In my mind, it”s just another reason to go on being a criminal once you get out.
The voting process in America, as far as I can tell, is designed to be abused as is being done in red states right now. These abuses will continue as long as they are allowed to exist. This us just ONE MORE RACIST CHARGE against the non-white citizens of America. And as long as those in power do not change it, it says they are racist too!
Some states have what we call Automatic Voter Registration — so whenever a citizen interacts with a federal agency, particularly the office that issues driver’s licenses, you get registered to vote (or your registration is updated with your correct address) — and we’re trying to make that a federal standard.
I cannot see why it cannot be done, except that for some bloody stupid reason the feds piggybacked on the states for voter lists, which put the foxes in charge of the henhouse. Then they inbred the foxes and took their intelligence away from them.