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YSK Americans, check to see if you can vote. Its real quick.

Link: www.vote.org/am-i-registered-to-vote/

Warning: you will get texted so use your disposal number.

With all the news about citizens discovering their voter status has been lapsed, and new rules for being a voter, everyone should check.

But also, sometimes you forget. I have new neighbors who finished moving a month ago, and when I asked if they changed their mailing address and checked their voting status, we discovered they weren’t.

nieminen ,

*Warning: you will get texted so use your disposable number

When I filled it out, email was required, phone was not.

Also, I use proton.me, and they have a really nice email masker, so you can generate throwaway email addresses, which is nice!

DerArzt ,

Wait what? Been using them for years and I didn’t know about this. TIL

nieminen , (edited )

It’s in the proton pass app. You only get so many in the free tier, but I did the premium, so it’s unlimited.

Edit spelling

whotookkarl ,
@whotookkarl@lemmy.world avatar

If you’re in Michigan the secretary of state website has a registration check and sample ballots but other sites have sample ballots too. That allows time to look into candidates, review voting history, maybe watch an interview or two, before going to vote.

urandom ,

In the US, why do you need to register in order to vote? Doesn’t the government already know who can and cannot vote?

CileTheSane ,
@CileTheSane@lemmy.ca avatar

Doesn’t the government already know who can and cannot vote?

I’m sure they do, but I think your confusion is coming from the assumption that those who are in charge of such things actually want people to vote.

EffortlessEffluvium ,

It’s only an issue because the voting laws aren’t federalized. Each state has its own criteria and register.

Tilgare ,

They also know precisely how much we owe in taxes, but instead of telling us and we pay it, they allowed a multi billion dollar industry to pop up around it and dictate tax law.

daniskarma ,

That’s not entirely true.

Not an US citizen. And in my country tax returns are certainly easier than the US. And our country also have a system in which people below certain money can just go to the tax agency and a government employee will do your tax return for you. But it cannot be fully automated, as the government doesn’t actually know 100% what do you own.

When they send you letters after asking for things is for you to give them paper documentation on why you deducted some things, or because they are inspecting some things a your deduction raised a flag. But it’s not like they just know precisely how much everyone should pay. If it were that easy tax returns would not be a thing as it is in most of the world.

Tilgare ,

They know my tax liability based on the income reported to the IRS by my employer - but you’re right that something they don’t necessarily know is the variety of valid deductions you might be eligible to take. Part of the process of filing is also calculating your tax liability though - and that part of it they know precisely and rather than TELLING you, you’re expected to determine your own liability and heaven help you if it’s wrong.

daniskarma ,

Well, that’s bad then.

Where I live its true that that part of the tax refund is already filled by our IRS equivalent. We have to fill the income that they don’t know about, and our deductions, which can be quite complex.

eldavi , (edited )

the american authorities don’t want everyone to vote so they require registrations for each election cycle and make doing so, as well as retaining that status until election day, as legally difficult as possible for the ones that they don’t want voting. they also take extra steps to make the act of voting itself as legally difficult as possible for those that they don’t want to voting as well.

the people who they don’t want voting are majority of registered voters so to further minimize their voting power; our authorities gerrymander political districts so that the people who they DO want voting have an artificially oversized voting impact compared to those who they DON’T want voting. nearly all of the conservative states use this approach with texas being one of the worse examples per the 2020 census.

prole ,

There is no real “centralized authority” for elections in the US

I_Clean_Here ,

This system is so fucking dumb. Get with the times, America

Passerby6497 ,

You assume that those in power want the problem to be fixed. The republicans actively fight making voting a holiday (going as far as saying that dems pushing for it are trying to manipulate elections) and have criminalized giving people stuck in lines for hours (again, as intended) food or water. And since our system was designed by and for wealthly land/slave holders, its not designed to work for the will of the people.

some_guy ,

https://lemmy.sdf.org/pictrs/image/3528fbc6-e761-453b-8bdc-e7cdc7b2f2aa.png

Haha, get fucked. I already get flooded with emails and text messages because I made some donations in 2020. I’ll never participate by giving up contact info again. Good job poisoning the well, Dems (I donated to Bernie and other progressives, now I’m hounded by first Biden and then Harris campaigns).

CileTheSane ,
@CileTheSane@lemmy.ca avatar

Do they not let you unsubscribe?

some_guy ,

I’ve treated them like spammers. I figure it’s best not to acknowledge that the account is actively read. But lately I’ve been toying with the idea of trying to unsubscribe from all of them en masse.

meliaesc ,

Its… just one click to stop the emails and texts…

CileTheSane ,
@CileTheSane@lemmy.ca avatar

https://lemmy.ca/pictrs/image/465d4930-c240-4dcf-ae90-9abd2e8e45b7.jpeg

rbesfe ,

Why are you complaining about something you’ve never tried to stop? Either do something about it or STFU

some_guy ,

I conflate a thing that sucks when you try to stop it with a thing that’s happening now. You can stfu too.

MisterFrog ,
@MisterFrog@lemmy.world avatar

Apparently vote.gov is a thing.

Skullgrid ,
@Skullgrid@lemmy.world avatar

This is the kind of election post that’s necessary.

I hate seeing “Remeber to go vote!” posts the week before an election as if that’s all you need to do. In most places, you need some kind of enrollment activity before they let you vote on the day, bring ID, etc etc.

Thebeardedsinglemalt ,

I commend vote.org for doing everything they can to get people registered, especially in areas where one side does everything possible to make the voting process as difficult as functionally possible…

…but be warned you will be drowning in emails from vote.org.

laughterlaughter ,

when I asked if they changed their mailing address and checked their voting status, we discovered they weren’t.

They weren’t what?

Etterra ,

Registered to vote, pedant.

laughterlaughter ,

Oh okay.

Brickardo ,

Can you lose your voting rights in the USA?

Whaaaaat?

Notyou ,

Yes. If you are a convicted felony, you lose your right to vote until you get out and request to get the right back from the state. Each state has their own rules. Some are automatic and some are a pain in the ass.

Some states also have been known to purge voters from their database sometime before an election. They claim it’s either an error or just getting rid of old records of deceased voters. No one believes them though.

Thebeardedsinglemalt ,

Which is how Kemp managed to get “elected” in GA years back

authorinthedark ,

technically yes with a felony conviction, but this is referring to losing your voter registration not your rights

ayyy ,

Yep and the person with the most votes isn’t the winner either! It’s super fun and cool living in a non-democracy.

xpsking ,

Why vote.org and not vote.gov???

MisterFrog ,
@MisterFrog@lemmy.world avatar

Yeah, I’d be super sus doing this via a 3rd party.

Head ,

Only accepts US phone numbers, so probably not for US citizens living abroad.

RaoulDook ,

Phone number is not required. I left it blank and it worked.

Head ,

Tyyy

Donebrach ,
@Donebrach@lemmy.world avatar

Just as a PSA, if anyone is concerned about malfeasance in the voter registration process, go to your state of residence’s Secretary of State website or the main State Website. I will not post any links becuase if you can’t navigate the web to find an official website I really don’t think you should be voting—sorry kids, mids and olds.

Your state’s Secretary of State website will have instructions on how to both register to vote and to actually vote. Your state’s official website will also have the same information if your state doesn’t have that office and registration is controlled by some other entity.

We (united states citizens) live in a federation and the reality of that is most elections are handled by local powers so there are some ocassional differences in how voting is administrated, key point—go to your locality’s OFFICIAL websites to find how to register to vote.

It really does matter. There are elections beyond the presidency. Hate your senator? vote, hate your Representative? VOTE. HATE YOUR STATE REPS? FUCKING VOTE? Live in a state where ballot initiatives are a thing??? FUCKING VOTE!!!

it doesnt cost money. just register and educate yourself on what’s on the ballot and go to the goddamn polls. there are a lot of issues causing problems right now in the US but at least one thing we can do is go to the ballots on election days and vote based on our convictions.

Donebrach ,
@Donebrach@lemmy.world avatar

who’s downvoting and can you explain why?

stoneparchment ,
@stoneparchment@possumpat.io avatar

because the very first thing you say in this post basically amounts to “I think I have the authority to decide the basis on which we determine who deserves to vote”

like, yeah, most people can navigate to their secretary of state websites. And it’s not really your responsibility to have to link the pages anyway.

But doing it for that reason aligns you philosophically with people who think that the illiterate, the elderly, the poor, the disabled, the critically ill, etc. somehow don’t deserve to vote. It aligns you ideologically with other people who think they can decide who deserves to vote, with people who want to disenfranchise others-- in essence, it aligns you ideologically with many Republicans

Donebrach ,
@Donebrach@lemmy.world avatar

If someone is so inept that they are incapable of utilizing the internet or otherwise seeking help from a person who they trust, or (shock) reach out to their local authorities to navigate the very simple task of registering to vote then yes, I believe said individual is probably not in a position to cast a meaningful and informed vote. Does that disenfranchise people? Yes. There is a point in which we must draw a line in saying certain individuals are not eligible to participate in this system (which we do all the time; see: minors, felons, etc.)

That being said, my comment is not physically stopping a moron-incapable-of-using-google from registering to vote—further I provided general information on how to do it. I want everyone who can do so to vote.

laughterlaughter ,

Your opinion is very weird, friend.

Donebrach ,
@Donebrach@lemmy.world avatar

How is wanting people to vote a weird opinion?

laughterlaughter ,

Says a group of people don’t deserve to vote.

Claims he wants people to vote.

Your logic is even weirder.

Donebrach ,
@Donebrach@lemmy.world avatar

Ah, yes of course, because there can’t be any subtlety to how we feel societal systems be implemented—it must all be all or nothing. Regardless, nothing I posted is blocking people from voting or advocating for actual impediments. I just shared an aside that my personal opinion is that if someone is too stupid to figure out how to vote they probably shouldn’t be voting in the first place.

laughterlaughter ,

if someone is too stupid to figure out how to vote they probably shouldn’t be voting in the first place.

Not what you said at the beginning, but if we take this new one, let’s just say that it’s a false equivalency and call it a day.

You’re no better than the disconnected billionaires and politicians.

plz1 ,

This. No way in hell I’m entering all that personal info on a non-official website. That’s how you get on voter spam lists…

MrPoopbutt ,

How does one get a disposal number?

leftzero ,

Just use some fake easy to remember number, like 0118 999 881 999 119 725 3, for instance.

AceFuzzLord ,

Doesn’t matter where you are in the world, vote if you can. I’m lucky enough to be in an area of the US where we get mail ballots, so the worst I have to deal with are right wingers complaining mail in ballots lead to fraud and then doing it themselves by dumping mail.

IdleSheep ,
@IdleSheep@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

It is wild to me that in the US you’re not automatically registered to vote. The idea that you have to go through a manual process to exert one of your most basic constitutional rights is unfathomable to me.

Here when you turn 18 you can just vote. It’s that simple. No registration, no ticking a checkbox somewhere, you can simply go out there and vote the moment you’re 18.

s38b35M5 ,
@s38b35M5@lemmy.world avatar

In the USA many states work very hard to remove voters’ registration and voting locations so the folks they don’t want voting can’t place their votes.

asdfbla ,

You just have to stop thinking the US is an actual democracy and everything will make sense (or rather you will understand why nothing makes sense)

Donebrach ,
@Donebrach@lemmy.world avatar

We’re the oldest democracy in the world and as such are likely the most poorly designed.

urandom ,

Is Greece that bad politically?

nifty , (edited )
@nifty@lemmy.world avatar

Their comment is based on this criteria:

Countries are classified as democracies if they meet the following conditions:

Executive: The executive is directly or indirectly elected in popular elections and is responsible either directly to voters or to a legislature.

Legislature: The legislature (or the executive if elected directly) is chosen in free and fair elections.

Voting: A majority of adult men has the right to vote.

Source weforum.org/…/countries-are-the-worlds-oldest-dem…

For anyone interested: the prehistoric origin of democracy, ie before the Greeks, is also interesting

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_democracy

ZealousSealion ,

It’s been a proto-democracy for so long, that it has become a pseudo-democracy.

acockworkorange ,

It’s to prevent double voting. Because even federal elections are conducted by the individual states, there is no central register for who has already voted. There’s also early voting. So in theory one could vote on multiple states on the same election.

That’s the official reason, anyway.

IdleSheep ,
@IdleSheep@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

Nothing about the US system is particularly geared to prevent double voting.

I get that you don’t have a federal register (something you should really fix tbh) but requiring manual registration when you could, oh idk, simply register people when they are born and then later automatically provide them a unique ID they can vote with? (I’m not even talking a government ID for the purposes of identifying yourself to law enforcement and stuff, I’m talking even just a voter ID for the sake of voting only)

Then have part of the number in that ID identify the state you’re from if you want to prevent crossing borders to double vote (kinda like how credit card numbers have that info on them).

It’s what they do here anyway, I’ve had an ID since I was like 4, and it’s with that document that I and everyone else votes.

Though I know the US is probably too anti-democratic for this and none of the parties in power want to change jack.

acockworkorange ,

something you should really fix tbh

Why me? I’m not even a U.S. citizen.

nieminen ,

I have a brother in Oregon, they auto register there.

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