registration nation

Rich and Karen McCann hold up signs during an impromptu BLM protest in San Anselmo, California. (Photos taken by Richard the Protester.)

​Little Homegrown Protests Really Count

A few days ago, I noticed a couple standing at a busy intersection near my house in California, holding up Black Lives Matter signs. “Honk! Make some noise!” read one. And people tooted horns, raised fist salutes, and waved in support.

“This is wonderful,” I said to Rich. And then, “Hey, we could do this.”

So yesterday at 5:00, I threw together some signs and we went to the intersection and joined that couple, Allison and Richard, who protest there on their own most evenings for an hour or so.
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Hundreds of homebound people joined in, creating an impromptu car caravan BLM protest. Drivers honked, passengers leaned out the windows with their own BLM signs, bicyclists shouted encouragement, and carloads of teens cheered us on. And I thought, “Anyone could do this. Even one person. Anywhere.” So hey, give it some thought. Wherever you are this summer, especially if you’re here in the USA, is there somewhere you could stage a rush hour protest? Even for a single hour?
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—Karen McCann
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Alert Resisters Emily and Lee reminded us this week that it's important to ask: Are you registered? Are you sure? Check your voter registration status HERE.

Registration Nation
A friend told me that he has put off registering to vote since moving last year. He doesn't want to be on a list that will make him more likely to be called for jury duty. (Mind you, a few well-chosen words on his views on prison reform would likely get him dismissed anyway.)
Why don't people register, given the hair-raising consequences of the last presidential election? Some just don’t want to vote. "But many others believe that they can’t or shouldn’t get registered because they’re not allowed, or because their registration could come at a personal cost,” Lelia Sales observed in Lifehacker, where she debunks the myths surrounding the downside of registering to vote.
—Kathy Sherretts

The Show-Up State:
Vote Smart: North Dakota is the only state without voter registration.
Here’s the catch—many voters in ND don’t have ID with a residential address, and obtaining one can be time-consuming. A recent agreement will ensure that tribal IDs and tribally designated street addresses are accepted as valid.

Generation Gap:
Center for Public Integrity: Elderly workers run elections. But COVID-19 will keep many home by Carrie Levine
In-person access to the ballot box rests on the vulnerable shoulders of a cohort of steadfast, but elderly, election workers at high risk of illness or death should they contract COVID-19.

Anecdata:
FiveThirtyEight: New Voter Registrations Have Nosedived During COVID-19 (Podcast, 33 min. Video here.)
Voter registration has fallen off during the pandemic, which has also had an impact on Americans’ ability to cast primary ballots. What is ahead for November?

Chaos Theory:
Vox: Trump’s reality TV presidency is being crushed by reality by Ezra Klein
Polling should be taken as information, not as prediction. But the information it offers is real: Trump’s political position is collapsing.
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Help make the 2020 election free, fair, accessible, and secure,
from the Brennan Center for Justice

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