BEFORE YOU GO TO VOTE

* Confirm polling location: not always same as primary / caucus location. Check @ http://govote.org
* Print out voting rights: know phone numbers, rules, etc. Check out http://bit.ly/print-voting-rights
* Save election protection numbers in your cell:
o 866-OUR-VOTE / 866-687-8683
o Espanol 888-VE-Y-VOTA / 888-839-8682
o Asian languages: 800-966-5946
* Check weather
* Note nearby public bathrooms

VOTING DAY PACKING LIST

* Avoid political buttons or campaign-related clothing
* Bring I.D. just in case — see your state’s ID requirements here

(for yourself or others)…

* Bottled water. snacks
* Umbrella / trash: bags in case of rain.
* Jacket: in case of cold or to cover campaign clothing
* Folding chairs: for the tired, the injured, the elders
* Camera: to document fraud or simply history. share with Video The Vote or YouTube’s Video Your Vote project.

ACTIVITIES TO PASS THE TIME WAITING IN LINE

* Be alert for scams! for example, if somebody suggest you can “vote by phone” to avoid the line, they’re lying — call the hotline to report it
* Play six degrees of kevin bacon
* Remember favorite campaign moments
* Sing civil rights songs
* Make up new dances
* Meet your neighbors!

FINALLY…

* If you have problems voting, call the hotline numbers (1-866-OUR-VOTE / 1-888-VE-Y-VOTA)
* Remember that voting with a provisional ballot is better than not voting at all
* If you are in line when the polls close, you are still allowed to vote!

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Making It Count:  How To protect your vote & spot dirty tricks

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Minnesota Women Speak Out

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Norm Owes Minnesota

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Hockey Mama for Obama

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We have a lot of work to do

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Hi ho, votereenos.  I have the day off;  Mr. Tild is planning to vote before going to work, wants to be at the polling place a half hour before the polls open and wonders if that’s going to be early enough;  Elder Son already voted last week, and at around 9 am today I’ll be at SW Station picking up Younger Son to shuttle him to the polls.  For both of my kids it’s their first time voting in a presidential election.

You may think that because we’re in Minnesota we’re not going to see the kinds of long lines and voting machine problems and  voter intimidation efforts other states have already been experiencing, but let me tell you, even here a lot of people appear to be on edge and emotions are running high.

I See By Your Outfit:   When I voted last Friday at Eden Prairie City Hall, a remarkably angry looking and suspicious acting election judge really gave me the stinkeye from the moment I walked in.

Why might that have been?  Well, if we go strictly by stereotypes, the answer maybe isn’t that hard to figure out.

Election judge:  blonde, 40s, Talbot’s Petites, mother necklace with kids’ birthstone charms…

(In other words:  a Classic EP soccer mom.)

Me:   56, auburn hair rapidly going gray and in braids, flax linen shirt (size XL) and jeans,  African bangle earrings…

(In other words:   a Classic old furry legged hippie pie wagon.)

I did not recognize Soccer Mom, for one thing.   She was certainly not one of the election judges from my precinct, many of whom I know because we’ve all been singing in the same Lutheran church choir for years.  (I mean, I may be Fallen Away, but I will always extol the therapeutic benefits of choral singing, even if you have to go to a church to do it.  It’s the best psychotherapy  available.  And it’s free.)

Anyway, for whatever reasons, what a look this woman  gave me!  What? — DFH that I obviously am, did she think I was smuggling in William Ayers and Bernardine Dorn *and* Jeremiah Wright under my coat?

Her look was so overtly hostile,  I made a special point of standing in the line for one of the other  election judges, which meant that I got my ballot  and returned it, completed and in its double secret envelopes, to a more neutral (and rational) -looking person.   I honestly thought it possible that EP Soccer Mom Eva Braun could conveniently decide to “lose” my vote in the nearest trash can.

Paranoid?  Maybe.  The point is:   Don’t assume that because you’re not voting in Broward County or in Ohio or in Virginia today that there’s no chance you could be challenged, or witness an attempt at tricksy repub skullduggery.  Know your rights.  Be prepared, with the lists given here.  Report any incidents you witness, and stand your ground.  It’s never been more important.

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