New Yorkers have a reputation as notorious multi-taskers. They think nothing of noshing a bagel while juggling their carefully folded New York Times, striking a quick deal on their cell phones when the D train dashes across the Manhattan Bridge, one arm wrapped around a pole in the swaying car to keep them upright.
Floridians, no matter their age, suffer from the opposite perception. We believe they do little more than bask on silvery, sandy beaches, putter about in golf carts, and loaf beside the pool listening to Gloria Estefan while sipping a piña colada. Mañana flew in for a holiday years ago and settled down to stay.
Pay attention, folks! On October 24, the doors to your polling places swing open, and it will be time for single-minded attention to your civic duty.
And by the way Florida, October 24 is also your last day to request an absentee ballot, just as the current President does. What’s good for the gander is good for the rest of the nation.
Why does voting matter?
Let me count the ways. The reasons to boot Republicans out of office up and down the ballot, but particularly out of the Senate and the White House, are almost beyond count. But one of Timothy’s biggest bugbears was the packing of America’s courts with conservative judges. This trend may have predated Reagan, but it was frighteningly obvious with ol’ Ronnie’s accession to the presidency. The topic came up on our second date, when we agreed that voters bleating “but he’ll lower my taxes” were ignorant of the collateral damage they were doing to themselves. The Atlantic gave some examples of why conservative justices are problematic in modern American society. The underdog (say, a labor union organizer or a Black voter in Georgia challenging Jim-Crow-like restrictions on their ability to vote) is much less likely to get a positive verdict from a conservative judge.
And now, with the loss of the liberal justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the top-most level of the American judiciary is set to become right-wing for a very long time to come. Kamala Harris had some things to say about the latest nominee, as does New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie.
Judges were the glue that bound [Republican lawmakers to Trump’s] administration and a key reason most Republican lawmakers said nothing as he trashed the rule of law and made a mockery of democratic governance.
“Court Packing Can Be an Instrument of Justice”
This week’s early voting opportunities
The table below shows the start of early voting opportunities in more than a dozen states opening up the week of October 18. Your experience may not be as unpleasant as Georgia’s but follow Michelle Obama’s advice and make a plan: comfy shoes, water bottle, something to read.
Oh, and don’t wear campaign gear to your polling place!
| Oct. 19 | Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho and North Dakota |
| Oct. 20 | Louisiana, Utah and Wisconsin |
| Oct. 21 | West Virginia |
| Oct. 24 | Florida and New York |
| Oct. 26 | Maryland |
| Oct. 27 | District of Columbia |
| Oct. 29 | Oklahoma |
The table below shows the deadline for requesting absentee ballots. Our advice echoes that of many other folks: don’t leave it to the last date available. Remember that your state’s postal service may have been one of the unlucky ones to have been “helped” to thin down its capabilities by the current Post Master General. Check your state’s link if you have any doubts.
| Oct.20 | Maryland and New Mexico |
| Oct.21 | Missouri |
| Oct.22 | Indiana |
| Oct.23 | Arizona, Idaho, Nebraska, Texas and Virginia |
| Oct.24 | Alaska, Florida and Iowa |
| Oct.27 | Arkansas, Kansas, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Tennessee |
| Oct.28 | Massachusetts and West Virginia |
| Oct.29 | Alabama, Illinois, Maine and Wisconsin |
| Oct.30 | Delaware, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan and South Carolina |
| Oct.31 | Ohio |
| Nov. 2 | Connecticut, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana , New Hampshire, South Dakota and Wyoming |
What else can I do besides vote?
Read the fine print at the links for your state. Watch out for tricks and stumbling blocks in the process. Your state may require you to apply for early voting privileges. Then, it may give you a very short window before that early voting day. Similarly, if you request an absentee ballot, you may have to also return it in a very short window of time. Decide not to vote early or absentee after requesting permission to do so, and you could face hassles at your polling station on actual Election Day.
What else can you do? In addition to voting yourself, see if you can help someone else vote — maybe by driving them to the polling station (wear your masks!). Offer to help register under-represented citizens. Volunteer to be a poll worker if you’re young and healthy enough to do so. Work with those working to eliminate gerrymandering. Join a campaign in your state for permanent mail-ballot voting, as we do here in Washington, or perhaps making Election Day a national holiday.
These links come from a calendar of early voting access, state by state, published by The New York Times. For which a huge thank you! There’s also information about mail-ballots in NPR’s article Mail-in Voting Rules by State.
This week’s Vote Now photographs…
Top: Statue of Liberty and East River bridges, New York City, New York
Bottom: Sandy toes, Tampa, Florida
Both: L. J. Cameron