Just wanted to drop by to wish everyone in the US best wishes for this week of weeks. To say that I’m thinking of you and hoping for the best (and for some much needed rest and the chance to settle a bit), would be an understatement. Take care out there, please, please, please… 
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I still get excited, when the country all moves together to gear up for a major election. The camaraderie of an entire nation.
I know there’s background things going on, but on Tuesday this entire nation is going to action-word democracy. We are going to verb the fuck out of it.
It’s just so…cool.
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My concern is that it seems different people have different ideas on which action verb we are going to be applying to democracy.
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Yes.
At this point though, we are all in the chute. The ride is leaving the loading bay. There is very little to do, but hold on, and plan your own personal next step.
POV: You in the collective
Fearing violence? What can you do tomorrow to lower your exposure to the anticipated risk? Stock your pantry, call a vulnerable acquaintance, check your door and window locks, map a different routes to work/school, watch a couple youtube videos on civil disobedience, talk about a family rally point, develop the habit of charging your phones and tables each night, fill your gas tank.
Fearing the degradation of what you consider a moral society? What can you do to increase your chance of being an effective moral leader? Call your stalwart friend, watch a couple youtube videos on civil disobedience (Convenient!), develop your own manifesto of what you can and cannot risk (I can risk prison, I cannot risk prison, I can endure physical beatings, I cannot endure physical beatings), chat up your neighbors, chat up your internet neighbors, donate to a cause.
Fear may be the little death, but bravery cannot exist without it.
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Good luck with the election tomorrow. I will be thinking of you and sending good vibes 
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I’m going to put my phone on silent and not check social media (or at least try not to). I think I will also watch a movie on election night, something comforting like cartoons or a movie from my childhood, instead of watching the results. I am generally going to try to eat well and go to bed on time. I may also do some cleaning throughout the week because my home is a mess and having a clean home will make me feel better and like at least my space is free from chaos.
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My partner is former journalist and a hardcore news consumer. I’m fully planning on keeping the bedroom door closed while I work during the day and taking a loooooong bath in the evening to try to escape the multi screen newsstravaganza that will be going on in my living room.
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My plan was sort of given to me by my boss, who required us to either
- take PTO
- or go on airplane mode and block all social media/news during the work day this week
Honestly, I have a lot of drama that is non-election related going on right now, and I’m very happy for the airplane mode.
So, the only day I’m taking PTO is Weds - I’m going skating that day in the morning so that I have something to focus on instead of doomscrolling, and then in the afternoon I’m going to do non-internet work (editing/writing) and put things on airplane mode.
I expect 0 updates of useful nature all week, so my main news will be morning/evening radio that I consume no matter what.
We’re actually waiting on a vote on our friend’s decision making platform to decide about whether or not we’re going to livestream tomorrow night:
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I’m in one of those states and both my brother’s and my vote could’ve been thrown out by those attempts. I’m glad they were blocked.
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Provides some hope for sane and rational.
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Whoo hoo – Washington has become one of the states where the number of early votes in 2020 has surpassed the number of total votes in 2016!
We aren’t a battleground, but still nice to see.
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Wow that is amazing. Just the increase in people being engaged and voting is good.
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Some are predicting that our county (which has the core of Seattle metro) will hit 90% turnout on this election.
For comparison, turnout was 82% in 2016 when Trump won (and 84/85% for the two Obama elections) & 76% in the 2018 midterms.
As if we needed more evidence that it works to have automatically mailed ballots - with no postage required and lots of drop boxes.
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The number of registered voters has also been going up steadily – over 50k new registrations in the last 2 weeks, and more than 600k more people registered compared to 2016. We’ve had some population growth, but probably not that much. So I’m guessing many of the new voters are young people, who are more likely to vote for Biden.
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According to npr, in 2016 Minnesota had the highest voter turnout percentage of all states at 74.1%. We aren’t at all close to that yet so there will be some long lines tomorrow!
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I found this interesting - as a person who has lived in universal vote-by-mail states for many years, I had no idea that schools are closed on election day (which is obvious because many polling places are school, and I knew that, I just didn’t think about it).
(This year I have to vote in person for the first time in many, many years, because we don’t have early voting and I registered too late for absentee voting. I wonder how it will go. My sister says there is never a line because of the low number of full-time residents here.)
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This was the first year that I could vote absentee, but I plan on doing it from now on. I believe it’s a new law in MI. Waiting in line is terrible, it’s even more terrible in a pandemic.
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Wishing the US folk all the very best for tomorrow, will be watching on tenterhooks from over here in Australia!
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