The bad weather in VA is probably going to help the fascists.
If some rain prevents people from casting a vote to stop fascism, then I just don’t know what to say about the state of our democracy.
EDIT: Not disputing what you’re saying, just commenting.
Poured in 2008. Cold and drizzly in 2013.
Still got 'er done.
I had to wait for a booth at 6:30 this morning (in eastern Loudoun, near Trump golf course) so fingers crossed!
Also this made me chuckle:
https://twitter.com/DonaldJTrumpJr/status/927938153398317056
If you don’t drive, or have trouble getting to the polls or are dependent on public transport or something similar, cold and rainy weather is a real barrier to voting, especially if you’re not an enthusiastic voter. It’s why volunteering to drive people to polls is so important.
How does this work exactly? The people without transportation go to some sort of well publicized website and sign up? And volunteers who want to drive people also sign up on that website? I’m just trying to picture how these two sets of people find each other.
Why don’t they just tug on their bootstraps and fly to the polls?
Calls from local party organizations, door-hangers, whatever. “If you need a ride to the polls, call…” “If you can volunteer to drive to the polls, call…”
Not that difficult to conceptualize.
Not to conceptualize, but to execute… I don’t know. How enthusiastic are “reluctant voters” going to be? Enough to accept a ride from a total stranger, who called on election day?
Again, most of it is through door-hangers or mailers, asking people who need rides to call the local party HQ.
And I can tell you, having volunteered to drive for 6 or 7 campaign cycles, a whole lot of folks take advantage, especially in poor weather. But that’s anecdotal.
What’s been your experience with driving people to the polls?
Nil. But I 100% support those that do! I just see it as a really tough proposition.
Would you describe the people you gave rides too as “reluctant voters”?
Not reluctant, but voters who wouldn’t vote if they didn’t have the means to get to a polling place.
And it’s a very common thing, and a lot of voters utilize it. Campaigns even set up accessible vehicles/vans for persons in wheelchairs.
In communities like the Northern Virginia suburbs, most people wouldn’t think twice about accepting a ride from the campaign to a poll (voters are given the name and vehicle from a staffer in advance of being picked up.)
In inner cities and urban areas, a lot of this is coordinated through local church groups, which also bring their own layer of trust.
I usually just throw it out there on Facebook that I’m willing to help people find their polling places and give them a ride.
No one ever responds (and admittedly, I could be better about it and use a method with more reach), but my wife has had some people take her up on the same offer and vote for the first time as a result.
The Idaho races are pretty uninteresting this year. Small-town mayors and a bunch of city council elections. I doubt we will be able to get any sense of whether the tide in this deeply red state is shifting. Next year will be more interesting, when Raul “Healthcare is not a human right” Labrador is up for governor, but 2018 will be more interesting for a million other reasons anyway.
NY Times coverage maps and estimators are now live.
Reports of heavier than 2013 turnout in Alexandria are encouraging.
When I did this, the campaign had a list of likely supporters and we either called all of them or knocked on their door and asked them if they needed a ride. If they did, we would call in to the group that did the driving.
2pm turnout report in Fairfax county is 30.6% of registered voters having voted in-person, which is 7 hours into things, with 5 hours to go. In person voting in 2013 in Fairfax County was 42%, so it should go over.
Total vote was 46%, and if you count absentees, Fairfax County is at 36% right now (about 20,000 more absentees than in 2013).
Dunno what this means, but it’s interesting dept:
Neat. But he’s wrong - there are two. I know Maryland is not a real state but we have to play along.
Maybe Dizzy’s making a comeback.