Election Protection
Aug. 14th, 2026 09:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chhotiiThe only way for things to recover (either in the short term or the long term, not sure which) is to have pro-democracy people focusing eyes and phone cameras at the places where democracy happens, the polling places.
You know that the only way forward for Trump and his goons is to have shenanigans at the polls. Not sure what form this will take: ICE intimidating voters? Paramilitary bands of thugs (like the January 6th rioters) scaring away voters? Forcing polling places to close? Somehow the R's have to keep the people from expressing their Official Opinion of, oh, the debacle in Iran, for example.
If there aren't election monitors, the election can be a total farce, and numbers will come out making it look like this is what we want: the government that shot Renee Good and Alex Pretti, the government that imprisons 5 year olds in blue bunny hats, the government that takes non-violent non-offenders into custody using electric shock gloves and imprisons them in warehouses and feeds them wormy food, the government that fired so many clueful public servants that they no longer know how to keep from bombing schools or keep a monument's reflecting pond from turning green. Surely this is not what we want. The American people are usually dubious about having the same party controlling Congress as has been in the White House for the previous 2 years. Is a massive display of incompetence and veniality going to make the people want a continuation of this all the more?
I'm just sputtering here.
Anyway, election monitoring: There's an organization devoted to monitoring for shenanigans at the polls: Election Protection. I have signed up for training on August 20th to be a poll monitor. Apparently, here in Massachusetts, we get a trial run of trying to protect the voting from federal shenanigans, on the date of the primaries (September 1st). This seems odd, because as far as I have heard, the primaries have been going on without shenanigans in other states. But, anyway, some activist organization said in their newsletter that there was some news of plans of the feds doing-- something-- in Massachusetts on the date of our primary.
Thus, I have informed work that I'm taking the day off on September 1st, and I'm planning to get training ASAP and then sign up for a shift. Hopefully I can get some experience with the election observation thing before shit completely and totally hits the fan.
Needless to say-- I encourage anyone who is pro-democracy to look into this: Election Protection
Open to other suggestions for what we should be doing as well.
You know that the only way forward for Trump and his goons is to have shenanigans at the polls. Not sure what form this will take: ICE intimidating voters? Paramilitary bands of thugs (like the January 6th rioters) scaring away voters? Forcing polling places to close? Somehow the R's have to keep the people from expressing their Official Opinion of, oh, the debacle in Iran, for example.
If there aren't election monitors, the election can be a total farce, and numbers will come out making it look like this is what we want: the government that shot Renee Good and Alex Pretti, the government that imprisons 5 year olds in blue bunny hats, the government that takes non-violent non-offenders into custody using electric shock gloves and imprisons them in warehouses and feeds them wormy food, the government that fired so many clueful public servants that they no longer know how to keep from bombing schools or keep a monument's reflecting pond from turning green. Surely this is not what we want. The American people are usually dubious about having the same party controlling Congress as has been in the White House for the previous 2 years. Is a massive display of incompetence and veniality going to make the people want a continuation of this all the more?
I'm just sputtering here.
Anyway, election monitoring: There's an organization devoted to monitoring for shenanigans at the polls: Election Protection. I have signed up for training on August 20th to be a poll monitor. Apparently, here in Massachusetts, we get a trial run of trying to protect the voting from federal shenanigans, on the date of the primaries (September 1st). This seems odd, because as far as I have heard, the primaries have been going on without shenanigans in other states. But, anyway, some activist organization said in their newsletter that there was some news of plans of the feds doing-- something-- in Massachusetts on the date of our primary.
Thus, I have informed work that I'm taking the day off on September 1st, and I'm planning to get training ASAP and then sign up for a shift. Hopefully I can get some experience with the election observation thing before shit completely and totally hits the fan.
Needless to say-- I encourage anyone who is pro-democracy to look into this: Election Protection
Open to other suggestions for what we should be doing as well.
