77 Days Until The Midterm Elections
With Midterms around the corner, the mod team wants to take the time to remind you to check your registration, look up your polling location, and research your ballot.
Much like Smokey the Bear, only you can prevent fascism. 🐻🔥
🛑 1. CHECK YOUR VOTER REGISTRATION
Make sure you’re registered and that your information is current, especially if you’ve moved, changed your name, or haven’t voted recently.
Don’t assume your registration is still active. Check.
🛑 2. CHECK YOUR POLLING LOCATION
Your polling place can change—even if you’ve voted at the same location for years.
Find out where you’re supposed to vote before Election Day, and make a note of the address and hours. Once you are in line to vote, know you have the right to stay in line to vote. You CANNOT be turned away once in line before the polls close.
🛑 3. KNOW WHAT’S ON YOUR BALLOT
Don’t wait until you’re in the voting booth to discover there are races or ballot measures you weren’t expecting.
Look up your sample ballot ahead of time and take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with what—and who—you’ll be voting on.
🛑 4. TRACK YOUR BALLOT
If you vote by mail, absentee ballot, or another method that allows ballot tracking, check the status of your ballot.
Make sure it was:
✅ Sent to you
✅ Returned successfully
✅ Received by your election officials
✅ Accepted and counted, when your state provides that status
If your ballot is marked as having a problem, don't panic—but don't ignore it either. Contact your local election office as soon as possible to find out what steps, if any, are available to correct the issue.
For the most accurate information, use your state or local election authority's official ballot-tracking system.
🛑 5. KNOW WHAT THE CANDIDATES ACTUALLY SUPPORT
You don't have to rely on campaign ads, social media posts, or someone else's opinion to decide how to vote.
Consider looking up:
• Candidates' official campaign websites and platforms
• Their voting records, if they currently hold office
• Interviews, debates, and public statements
• Nonpartisan voter guides
• Reputable fact-checking organizations
• Local journalism covering the candidates and races
• Information from organizations that clearly explain their methodology and sources
Read beyond the headline. Compare candidates. Look at their actual positions.
🛑 YOUR REMINDERS 🛑
✅Are you registered?
✅ Is your registration information correct?
✅ Do you know where you're voting?
✅ Have you requested your absentee ballot?
✅ Have you tracked your ballot and confirmed it was accepted?
✅ Have you looked at your ballot?
✅ Do you know what the candidates on it support?
Take care of these things before Election Day so you can walk in prepared.
The Handmaids Tale and The Testaments is a story about what happens when people become complacent while their rights, freedoms, and ability to make decisions about their own lives are slowly stripped away.
And while Gilead is fictional, the individual actions that built it are not. The denial of reproductive autonomy. The suppression of women’s rights. The use of religion to justify government power. The persecution of marginalized communities. The erosion of democratic institutions. The normalization of authoritarianism. Versions of these things have happened in the real world and are happening to real communities around us right now.
Our rights are interconnected. Protecting your own rights means protecting the rights of your neighbors, including people whose identities, beliefs, religions, or lives look completely different from your own.
Protect your rights. Protect your neighbors. Reject authoritarianism. Reject theocracy. Reject fascism. Reject Donald Trump.