EYE ON THE BALLOT

STOP, LOOK, LISTEN!

Eye on the Ballot
I voted this week. (Just two ballot questions: a transportation bond, and new rules for assisted voting.) My state makes it easy—Maine provides the option of casting an absentee ballot via email, and tracking its status online. Not every state does; check HERE to look up rules on registration, ballot requests, and absentee voting by state. There is still time to cast your 2019 ballot in most jurisdictions, whether by mail, fax, or email.
Next year’s elections will be our opportunity to begin repairing the damage done by the current administration. All of us know people who, for whatever reason, don’t vote. Some have never voted, others used to vote but quit, or never bothered to find out how to do it from so far away. As we approach the 2020 elections, we can start thinking about this: How can we talk to people who don't vote, because they think it’s pointless...or too difficult?
--Kathy Sherretts

Who counts? Who’s counting?
Slate: The Most Important Question Facing Americans Today by Dahlia Lithwick
The American elections system is anti-democratic by design and corruptible in practice—and yet only through elections can we arrive at a better one.

Article:
Washington Post: In 1797, Congress confronted a Trump-like figure — and impeached him by J.M. Opal
Congress did its duty by calling out a man of no evident scruple, who tried to erase the line between public service and private interest. William Blount was a man ahead of his time.

Article:
Huffpost: I Don’t Know How To Explain To You That You Should Care About Other People by Kayla Chadwick
The “I’ve got mine, so screw you,” attitude has been oozing from the American right wing for decades.

Video:
The Guardian: Why we need political action to tackle the oil, coal and gas companies (4 min)
20 fossil fuel companies’ exploitation of the world’s oil, gas and coal reserves are responsible for more than one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions—and they continue to expand operations.
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Just for fun:
NYMagazine: This Week’s Cover by Joe Darrow
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​Ready to do more?

Learn about the Green New Deal. If you missed our roundtable discussion, you can read the presenters' notes here. 
Read the Indivisible Guide 2.0, a new strategy for a new congress. 
Check out the weekly action plan from Progressive Action, Global Exchange (PAGE) which mobilizes progressives living overseas. 
Sign up for the Americans of Conscience Checklist, a weekly action list that also provides encouragement and good news. 
Learn more about solutions and actions at ClimateRecovery.org, a new group organized by members of American Resistance Sevilla and other community activists.