Strength in Numbers

Last week, a couple of the American Resistance Sevilla members helped Jim Mercereau, a representative of Rock the Vote Spain, ease the process of requesting an absentee ballot to more than 160 US university exchange students who came to Sevilla for a semester or a year. We really appreciate the help of Morgan Reiss from CIEE and Sara Pink from The Texas Tech University Center in Sevilla for giving us time and access to the students.

Do you have an opinion on the issues?
VOTE! 
HELP REGISTER OTHERS TO VOTE!!!
Whether you are in the USA or abroad
join the massive voter registration effort.
Contact a grassroots organization near you.
Swing Left 
Indivisible
Rock the Vote
League of Women Voters
Progressive Action, Global Exchange (PAGE)
They'll show you what to do and put you to work
in places where your efforts
are most needed to boost turnout in November.
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Donald Trump's hurricane tweets show he can always go lower by Chris Cillizza (CNN, Sept. 14, 2018)
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STOP, LOOK, LISTEN! by Kathy Sherretts

Strength in Numbers
I enjoy poking around on the website FiveThirtyEight.com. Check out their analysis of the U.S. house and senate election prospects; also, a feature on How Money Affects Elections. Over the past ten years the polling aggregation site has been linked with the New York Times, ESPN, and ABC News. (I’m only mildly disturbed by the realization that FiveThirtyEight treats politics and sports exactly the same way: Trump’s approval ratings are down, as is the frequency of Tommy John surgeries among major league pitchers.) 

• Remember, Election Day is November 6, and your requested ballot for overseas voters should be sent to you by September 22. Watch for the arrival of your blank absentee ballot. If you don't receive an absentee ballot in time to return it to your state, you can download the FWAB (Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot) as a backup ballot to vote. If your official absentee ballot arrives after you send in the FWAB, fill out and send in the official ballot as well. Your state will count only one.

--Kathy Sherretts

Politics meets weather:
Bloomberg: North Carolina Weakened Its Building Codes in 2013 by Ari Natter
Amid increasing anti-regulatory sentiment, North Carolina and other storm-prone states have been easing building codes, while the effects of global warming escalate.

Podcast:
Radio Atlantic: Is Democracy Dying? (44 min)
Writers from The Atlantic's October issue discuss this precarious moment in history, as democracy struggles against the rise of authoritarianism and populism.

Article:
New York Times: Detention of Migrant Children Has Skyrocketed to Highest Levels Ever by Caitlin Dickerson
Federal shelters are near capacity, due not to new arrivals, but to fewer children being released to relatives—as undocumented family members are afraid to come forward for fear of being detained themselves.

Nationwide Wireless Alert: 
Vox: FEMA’s testing a new “presidential alerts” system that sends messages to your phone by Emily Stewart
I’m sure it will be just fine.
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We just learned that the presidential alert test has been postponed to October 3rd (just one month before the midterms!!). Here is a photo of what it's supposed to look like — if he stays on script.

For more ways to take action check out the action plan put together by PAGE (Progressive Action Global Exchange), and Americans of Conscience; read the featured action suggested by Indivisible; or check out the online training platform of Resistance School and sign up to any of the more than 15 free courses they offer on organizing 101, team building, contacting voters, and building movements.
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