razielim:

razielim:

Alright, now that you’ve voted and are sitting around anxiously for the results, here’s what you can do to make sure we never end up this anxious about retaining our basic human rights ever again:

• Look up when the primary and general election in 2019 is. Set up two Google Calendar reminders for those days. For each, one the week before so you can hype yourself and your friends up, and one to actually go do it. 
• Look up when the primary and general election in 2020 is.

  Set reminders.

• Look up when the primary and general election in 2021 is. Set reminders. 

• etc.

Okay, okay, I’ll do some of the work for you. The upcoming election days, always the

Tuesday following the first Monday of November (aka Nov 2-8), are:

• November 5th, 2019
• November 3rd, 2020
• November 2nd, 2021
• November 8th, 2022 
• November 7th, 2023 
• November 5th, 2024 

Primaries, however, vary by state, which is why I can’t just give those dates to you. They might not even be set so far ahead of time where you are. 

My POINT, however, is that voting is something that happens every year, and often twice a year. 

If you don’t want to get fucked over by federal government, by US Senators from states you wouldn’t be caught dead in, by unfit presidents, if you don’t want to fear for your life feeling like people that aren’t accountable to you are making horrific decisions for you, you must vote in every election.

Here’s a schedule I found for one of the cities of Virginia:

I don’t live in that city so I have a different timeline for when certain public servants get elected and all that, but it shows the dates of primaries which will be the same throughout my state. In addition to representatives, there’s measures and amendments to vote for every year. Just because you’re not paying attention, doesn’t mean those things aren’t being decided.

The good thing about shitty voter turnout on an annual basis is that most of these off-years don’t have any lines during voting. You get to pop in and out and wow, that was easy! The bad thing is, of course, that people who don’t have your best interests at heart have been relying on your not showing up for decades and they’ve got one hell of a head start. Catch up and overtake them.

If you have already developed a voting habit, huzzah! If you’re just starting, these calendar reminders are just a way for you to start internalizing how important it is to vote every time, and influencing your friends and family to also understand the importance so that we can make long-lasting changes for the better. If you have a system you prefer over Google reminders, use those to help you instead. Whatever it takes.

Anyway, set a timer for 15 minutes, and as fast as you can, just find all the information you can about upcoming election dates and set those reminders for yourself. Quick, like ripping a bandaid off.

Do it now, while you’re scared shitless and feeling helpless, and not tomorrow when you’ve found out the election results and relaxed.

I don’t know why I didn’t mention this in the original post, but just in case it hasn’t occurred to you to think of it this way 

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The REASON that it’s important to vote always is that your mayors, your governor, your state legislatures (and many others) are a buffer between you and the federal government. They can protect you, but they can also put you at risk. They can be your allies, or they can be your enemies. It’s important to vote for all levels of government so that you and others are always best protected by people who are more likely to have your best interests at heart. 

Additionally, the people who are propped up at a local level are also the people who go on to have national careers. If you want your future pool of federal candidates to improve, local voting is vital.