This election season has been consumed by MAGA threats of interference and chaos.   Republicans continue to spread false information about fraudulent voting to justify their drastic voter suppression efforts.  MAGA states began early by redistricting and purging voter rolls.  Trump has tried to use the US post office to interfere with mail-in voting.  Even if the courts continue to hold in favor of mail-in voting, the Republican leadership of the USPS can still use their 2020 approach of slowing down the mail by deactivating machines or otherwise delaying processing of ballots.  These tactics will slow delivery of your ballot to you and its delivery to the election officials to be counted.  Finally, there is the specter of Trump-instigated violence on November 3, either by deploying ICE or the National Guard.

We defenders of democracy have two goals for the midterms

1. Protect election outcomes. The best way to protect election outcomes is to win by a large margin.  This is where your phonebanking, canvassing and postcard writing comes in.  We must activate as many voters as possible and drive up the score. The larger the margin, the harder it is to contest.

2. Safeguard individual votes, in order to achieve such large margins.  We want to make sure that our ballots and votes are received as early as possible.  We are asking you to be prepared and for you to reach out to everyone you know, especially in other states. See Best Way to Avoid Postal Chaos-Vote Early which is relational and written to be passed along to non-activists.

What you can do – 5 Steps to protect the election results

Make Sure your Registration is Correct

Prepare to Vote

• Research Ballot Questions and candidates so that you are ready to vote as early as possible.  
• Watch for your ballot and make other plans to vote if you do not receive it.  Look for poll locations, times and dates on vote.org, vote411.org, or voterizer.org.

Vote Early

• Know when Early Voting Starts and vote in person. Early Voting Dates By State  
• No Kings: Vote Early is asking everyone to vote in person on October 17 or the first day of early voting in your state, to show our strength and determination.

Make Sure Your Vote Counts

• Use a drop box for your vote-by-mail ballot.  If you must mail it, mail it 2 weeks before the election and track whether or not your ballot has been received.  A first class stamp does not give your ballot added protection.  
• Provisional Ballots:  If you believe that your vote-by-mail ballot has been diverted, ask the poll worker for a provisional ballot on election day, November 3 and vote in person.

Spread the Word

• Make a list of people you know and personally ask them to take these steps as well.
• Share Best Way to Avoid Postal Chaos-Vote Early! with them.

These simple steps can safeguard everyone’s vote and the election outcomes.  The more of us that take these steps, the less we have to worry about other MAGA subversions of the election.  Be prepared, follow through and make sure your vote counts.