Some of you who have been regular readers of this blog know that one of my sons is a web developer.
Recognizing that turnout is far and away the most important aspect of the upcoming midterms–and believing, as his mother does, that these will be the most consequential American elections in a very long time–he and a couple of friends have developed a very simple, free application that allows people to check their registration status (and register if necessary), find their polling place, preview their ballots and more.
Here’s his description:
The Just Go Vote! app makes it easy to find all the information you need to be able to vote. You can check your registration and register, download a calendar of important election related dates, find your polling place, see your upcoming ballot choices and get an absentee ballot, and view a list of your representatives. To protect your privacy, there is no account sign up for this app. You enter info only to find what you need to vote, and it will be deleted if you delete the app.
Liz, Greg and I have worked really hard over the past few weeks to make this a reality. We agree that there is nothing more important at this moment than the mid-term elections, and to that end we wanted to make something that would help the millions of people who are eligible to vote, but who for whatever reason were unable to last time.
Please download the app, use it, and share it far and wide. Democracy does not work without participation. The Republican strategy of making it ever more difficult for people to exercise their right to vote has been working quite well for them. This app is our attempt to fight back and make it as easy as possible for people to participate in our democracy. If we move even a small percentage of voters who did not vote last time, we can easily take back our government and change our world for the better.
The app will shortly be available in the iOS App Store and in the Google Play Store, and it is already available as both a website and a PWA (progressive web app, just add it to your home screen) by simply visiting our site at https://justgovote.org
Thanks!!
I think the best thing about this app is how absolutely SIMPLE it is to use, even for non-techie, easily confused old folks (like his mother) who didn’t grow up in a digital world. Take a look–and spread the word far and wide.
If this simple tool helps to motivate even a few people per precinct who didn’t vote in 2016, it could make a huge difference.
Commenters to this blog have widely varied opinions about the economy, education, the reasons Trump won, what each of us should be doing about the country’s perilous situation, and much else–but I think everyone agrees on the importance of turning out the millions of eligible citizens who didn’t bother voting in November of 2016.
Here’s one thing we can all agree to do, and my kid has made it easy: DISTRIBUTE JUST GO VOTE!
No we just need to combine this app with a “free ride share” app, so those without adequate transportation can be matched with someone willing to give them a ride to the polls.
Many thanks to you and your son for working to make it easier for people to register to vote and for us to be able to help make the voting process easier for everyone.
I will be spreading the good news about this app!
I applaud and support this vital application; it offers everything but Uber service. Thanks to your son and his friends and thank you.
Sheila; can you PLEASE again post your request asking those on the blog; and of course all others, to grit their teeth and vote for Senator Donnelly in November!!! He may be but a number on our side of the aisle but he is our number and right now; that is the only outcome that will count on November 6th. Those who are so disgusted and disappointed in Donnelly’s performance and who have stated they will not vote for him are doing exactly what the Bernie Bots did in 2016 who refused to vote for Hillary. They are GIVING a vote to Braun and will help elect him. We need their numbers; not their personal assessment of Donnelly’s past performance, we must now choose the party we want in Congress or we are doomed to a continuation of today’s escalating Fascist status quo.
I am already gritting my dentures just thinking about voting for Joe Donnelly and my City Councillor David Ray. But they lay claim to the Democratic party; and if it is in name only, so be it…for now!!!
As an aside; Sheila, yesterday I did not receive your blog as usual on my Favorite Places till late morning. I accessed it and commented on Facebook; after that it appeared, so did my comment. When I made a 2nd comment later and again this morning, I am required to fill in the blanks with my name and Email. Is there a problem?
Personally, I prefer informed voters over those who’ve been told to vote but have no idea what they’re doing. It reminds me of the lemming stories…
Calm down, Marv. You’re one of my idols. My point was Americans as a whole are trained at a very early age to WIN. Einstein elaborated on that as well. As a kid, I hated losing but was never taught the benefits of teamwork. It was always if you don’t like losing than [fill in the blank].
The DCCC and DNC have employed the “not losing to Trump” strategy for the upcoming election. Friends of mine circulated a letter polling whether or not HRC should run again. Seriously?
She lost to a reality TV hoax. If you need proof that the DNC and their media mavens are frauds, that should be enough.
Did you notice how many people worked for and then voted for Ocasio-Cortez and her platform?
It is a progressive platform which actually has merit and meaning for people. The DCCC and DNC have peddled bullshit for decades because they’re just another corporate owned stooge. A puppet of capitalism which says the richest should get richer and workers should suck it up.
If someone wants to buy a product, I need it to bring worth into my life. If there is no value to it, I might as well order it online and have it delivered as a convenience. #Winning
Make me want to get my lazy ass off the couch and cast a vote for you. Don’t lie to me and tell me shit you have no intention of seeking. Tell me how, why and who. If it’s of value to me, I might even grab some friends and explain to them why they should put down their controllers and cast a vote.
Furthermore, it should be a national Holiday. Every perceivable obstacle should be removed. If our phony ass politicians really want us to vote, but don’t want us to have the day off, cut out the Tuesday bullshit and run elections over the weekend.
The problem is our political and media class don’t care about our voting because it’s basically a meaningless exercise if our options are limited. They limit our choices intentionally. Do you honestly think the Donor Class gives a shit who you vote for as long as it’s a party chosen Democrat or Republican?
LOL
The Donor Class wins either way…Carlin made a living off joking about the “illusion of choice.”
If my only choice is between male or female who will serve the donors, chances are I won’t find the 5 minutes it takes to vote because it is completely devoid of meaning.
To those who have been mentioning rides to the polls, we are already working to try to bring this to the next version. Stay tuned!
Todd,
“As a kid, I hated losing but was never taught the benefits of teamwork.”
Ditto.
Thanks for the clarification. Try to be a little more careful next time.
In the recent June, 2018 primary in our area, only eight percent of eligible voters of a particular demographic voted. Such a low turnout earns no respect for that group. Their concerns will be discounted in the general election because they have chosen irrelevance. How is that stubborn mindset of determination not to vote reversed?
gee Sheila,i speak three languages
english
American and
trucker,glad to have ya on board.
as for voting,i can not,sold some pot, but ill ask trump for a pardon.. whatchathink? ..
maybe when its finally legal,maybe all will be forgiven?
my job, take time off, drive those who need a ride to the poles,
remind people to check thier poling area for changes,
stop gerry from mandering,
and,help someone learn why,you vote,and what it means to be informed
Amazing… IT in the City/County Bldg has blocked this site. Will check it out when I get home this evening. Thank you for the link.
JoAnn Green,
Sure! My mantra is “anything EXCEPT GOP so Donnelly gets my vote by default but it leaves me with a bitter taste to help seat him for six F**KING YEARS! It surprises me, JoAnn, that you or any American woman would plead for a Donnelly vote.
Please use your writing skills to extract from Donnelly a promise in exchange for our support to read the Democrat Party National Platform and then to SUPPORT IT with his voting record in the U. S. Senate despite his narrow neo-GOP personal puerile views on social issues.
Critical is the confirmation of no more GOP justices to SCOTUS.
We need to neutralize Trumpism by TRUMPETING our support for OUR KEY ISSUES, not tacitly support this national lunacy.
JoAnn is right. We need to turn the Senate blue moreso than the House. Remember the Senate confirms those judges. Donnelly votes with the Republicans too often, but his constituency more or less requires it. Until Indiana progressives stand up and vote that’s the way it will be.
Todd,
Since 45 still wants to focus on Hillary and conservative high schoolers are chanting “Lock her up!” why shouldn’t some part of the Democratic Party think she is still viable? (Just kidding!)
On a more somber note, I want to remind everyone that there are more than two thousand children who remain separated from their parents, some still held in cages. Furthermore, there are over four hundred sixty parents who have been deported, without regard to the fact that their children remain in the custody of the U.S. Government. There was no apparent plan to reunite them with their children. Kidnapping? You bet. High crimes perpetrated because of a misdemeanor?
Gordon,
“How is that stubborn mindset of determination not to vote reversed?”
The only way is to……”scare the hell out of them” by EFFECTIVELY DESCRIBING what their lives will amount to, if they don’t vote. They need to be presented with a CLEAR PICTURE of their future, not just more rhetoric. All the elements are in place to do just that. There’s no need to wait any longer.
I am going to wait until the SCOTUS vote before I decide my vote on the Donnelly seat. I have grown weary of those who excuse Donnelly’s many votes with the Republicans as some kind of trap he is in due to the make up of the Indiana electorate. He had 6 YEARS to use his bully pulpit to convince voters in this state to re-think their bigoted and narrow minded views. He did nothing! His old “going along to get along” approach to representation has pushed this voter out of her once strong support of all things Democrat and into a more discriminating approach to who gets my vote.
OMG; extracting any promise from Donnelly before the election is meaningless, if he loses, promises are not required. Yes; I am pleading for votes for Donnelly rather than turning more of the state of Indiana and the Senate over to Trump.
Theresa; in this instance, “Discrimination is NOT the better part of valor.” It will take more courage to vote for the weak link to maintain ONE vitally necessary Democratic seat in the Senate. It is also vitally needed for Indiana with Pence riding in the powerful Trump shotgun seat.
JoAnn,
A “vitally necessary Democratic seat” isn’t worth a bucket of spit if it votes Republican time and time again.
Indiana has several reasons for voting absentee, among those those reasons are:
I am a voter with disabilities.
I am a voter at least 65 years of age.
I am scheduled to work at my regular place of employment during the entire 12 hours that the polls are open.
I will be confined to my residence, a health care facility, or a hospital due to illness or injury during the entire 12 hours that the polls are open.
http://www.indy.gov/eGov/County/Clerk/Election/Voter_Info/Pages/absentee_voting.aspx
There is a form to download complete to request the absentee ballot. It is not rocket science.
Jack Smith @7:51 I sent your post to my lawyer friend. I said it gave me a chuckle; I got this reply:
“This man is our hope. He’s not educated, he’s not wealthy, he’s had some trouble in his life, but he knows what America should be and he knows he can make a difference. He’s simply a decent human being. I’m hoping there are a lot more like him who have the native intelligence to reject the Liar-in-Chief and his thieving GOP enablers.”
My sentiments entirely.
Somehow, and rather strangely, this comment string is the most uplifting one I’ve read here in a while. It feels like we are together at the rock bottom, where we are all facing the critical decision: what am I going to do. And it’s not an easy decision for each of us because values we hold very dear are at stake, are threatened by what we may or may not do. But I value the candor and the effort I see put into the lives behind the comments here, and I trust that every one of us is acting in good faith and upholding values I can respect. Thank you, fellow commenters and Sheila blog readers. Every day you affirm my belief that there are good reasons to keep working for a better tomorrow and you challenge and improve my thinking and my understanding of people and the world.
“The DCCC and DNC have employed the “not losing to Trump” strategy for the upcoming election.”
Absolutely. Can anyone think of a more compelling issue in America this year? It seems like many who fought in WWII did so in order to not lose to Hitler.
To me everything else is typical midterm stuff that most people sit home through.
I’ve noticed on social media that many authoritarians (Russians?) have tried to counter our critical mission by attacks on Hillary and President Obama. That’s how screwed up their world has become.
Republicans are completely devoid of accomplishments even though they have all of the power currently. That’s the best that can be said for them. The worst is a long list of ways that they have sent the US spinning backwards. I’m pretty sure that even chimpanzees could do better so if there’s one running against a Republican give him a chance.
It sounds like an easy assignment and it is once one is at the polls so that’s the rest of our strategy. Turn out. Everyone in. Nobody stays home.
Todd @ “The DCCC and DNC have employed the “not losing to Trump” strategy for the upcoming election. Friends of mine circulated a letter polling whether or not HRC should run again. Seriously?
She lost to a reality TV hoax. If you need proof that the DNC and their media mavens are frauds, that should be enough.”
=======================================================
The Corporate Democratic Establishment takes the approach of let’s find a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Theresa @ 8:35 am ” I am going to wait until the SCOTUS vote before I decide my vote on the Donnelly seat. I have grown weary of those who excuse Donnelly’s many votes with the Republicans as some kind of trap he is in due to the make up of the Indiana electorate. He had 6 YEARS to use his bully pulpit to convince voters in this state to re-think their bigoted and narrow minded views. He did nothing!”
********************
I agree with your sentiments. Donnelly, could have used his time to educate and espouse a Progressive Agenda. At some point a person has to demonstrate the courage of his/her convictions – Donnelly has demonstrated a lack of courage a failure of nerve, which maybe attributed to a lack of any Progressive convictions.
This is off subject. Have you ever considered the Responsibility of Knowledge, the Crime of unrevealed Facts. I found this article on line and felt it deserved to be disseminated.
President’s Agent Orange along with the rest of his regime are committed to the extraction of and the use of coal as an energy source.
Black Lung Rate Hits 25-Year High In Appalachian Coal Mining States.
One in five working coal miners in central Appalachia who have worked at least 25 years now suffer from the coal miners’ disease black lung. That’s the finding from the latest study tracking an epidemic of the incurable and fatal sickness.
It’s the highest rate in a quarter century and indicates that the disease continues to afflict more miners in Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia.
“We haven’t seen this rate of black lung since before the early ’90s,” says Cara Halldin, an epidemiologist at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and one of the authors of the study. https://www.npr.org/2018/07/19/630470150/black-lung-rate-hits-25-year-high-in-appalachian-coal-mining-states?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20180719
It seems beyond belief we have Black Lung in our workforce, given what we already know about it. It is just another example of how we proles are used and then discarded when our usefulness to Corporate America has expired.
An eloquent suggestion for all who wanted a perfect world in 2016 and by staying home gave us President Trump. I understand that voting a straight ticket implies a mindless partisan approach. For those like me who spend hours and hours sorting through and working for candidates in the primary, the only choice is to examine those winners I worked against to see how the party opposite may have fielded a better candidate. This year, so that the message to Trump can best be delivered by a straight Democratic vote, I will forego that examination and will just do as Sheila has so eloquently suggested, adding “Democrat” to her cry.
Charlie; your comment regarding voting straight ticket at this time has specific meaning for me today. Just this morning I was thinking about the number of times I have voted straight ticket since I stopped being an Independent voter in 2000. I am deaf and disabled, need a cane for mobility; my polling place in November 2016 was a madhouse due to 3 or 4 precincts located in one site. As soon as I filled out the straight Democratic oval and headed or the ballot machine, a woman took my arm and began pushing me along which caused stumbling. I inserted my ballot in the machine and it immediately shot back out at me; I reinserted it which upset the woman who had pushed me to that machine. She again took my arm, told the man behind me NOT to insert his ballot till she returned and pushed me to another machine which accepted my ballot. Did my vote count…I have serious doubts it did. Just this morning I decided to take the time to fill out every individual oval on the Democratic ticket. Living in a Republican state, in a neighborhood surrounded by Trump yard signs and the incident at the ballot machine makes me doubt the vote count on election day.
Sheila; again on this comment, the name and Email boxes are blank as is the box to save my name, email and website.
thanks omg, im a lone wolf in nodak, red state north dakota. my grandfolks raised me, grew up in newark,n.j. and my best years ,in the 1970s in southern calif. diversity was a key in my life. though white, i escapped a less than lower medium income life. trucking has bought me into those same like neighborhoods as my travels demand. i enjoy the people, i do not enjoy where we have left many,and to see America do what has now been called a take over by money… trump is a punk, and hes selling out America for his,and the republican congresses greed. i read alot of viable journalism,i take that to the streets.. ivebeen on this since reagan… i probably dont change alot of minds,but im sure it opens some eyes,and motivates others. the millenials will be a key player, i find most here,are now looking at the future,under the present scam… best wishes,i hope my view of the working class,helps shed some light…
My apologies to all; please be patient, I am severely technologically challenged. Noticed my browser is needed, had to ask my computer wizard daughter-in-law what it is. This should fix it, Sheila, still no idea why the info would be deleted.
I don’t always agree with everything Todd writes here. But I wholeheartedly agree with his suggestions today that Election Days should only be held on weekends, preferably –IMO — on Sundays. Most of the other democracies in the world hold Elections on weekends. Would love for Democratic Party candidates to start making this a part of their platforms. A common sense reform that would cost very little for state and local governments to implement.
I know. There’s still the fact that in our Country today, many people still have to work on Saturdays and Sundays, but far more people are off work on a Saturday or Sunday than on Tuesdays.
I have nothing against making Election Days official Holidays. Hey, everyone loves a Holiday especially paid ones, don’t they? But private employers wouldn’t have to honor it.
As I often write, after all the posturing and blustering is over during both primary and general elections, it all comes down to arithmetic, aka turnout. Donnelly haters and New York Democratic Socialists are under the same tent, and if there is any question as to whom to vote for, I again say: consider the alternative. Do you want 50% or nothing? Do you want a flawed Donnelly or a totally flawed and politically repugnant piece of right wing jprotoplasm making decisions for you for the next six or more years? Yes, I know, I detest some of Donnelly’s votes and positions on such as reproductive rights of women, too, but at least some of his votes are right on as opposed to what we can expect from his opponent, which are likely to be 100% wrong as measured by progressive values. Consider the alternative – and vote – because our democracy is truly at stake with this madman in the Oval Office, and parenthetically, why not run against Trump? Are we to give a madman a pass while devouring our own? Not I.
Those who don’t vote remind me of the old story about the Polish guy who came home and found his wife in bed with another man. He pulled a gun out of the dresser and pointed it at his own head. When the wife and stranger both started laughing he said, “Don’t laugh! You’re next!”
Bazinga!!!
When it comes to voting, I always remind folks to remember the working moms out there who get off work at 5, drive to the day care to pick up kids and then need to go home & feed those kids. Since the polls only stay open to 7 PM in most places it makes it difficult, especially for single moms. (In the mornings they are trying to get the kids ready for school/day care.) Maybe we older folks can volunteer to give working moms an hour of our time so they can go vote after work.
Thanks for the app link. Our state (SC) did it with a business size card with an app that could be downloaded automatically by swiping over the little abstract block on the card. Can’t remember who sponsored this, but I passed them out to everyone who told me they weren’t registered.
Holly, Brunner, I am willing to volunteer to drive people to the polls on Election Day. If you (or anyone else) have info on where I can go to sign up to volunteer my services, please let me know. Thanks!
It’s hard to argue the ‘turn out the vote’ point because, well, she got 3 million more votes than her opponent. They just happened to be cluttered in the wrong places. The electoral college is responsible for this. Not Putin. Not Comey. Not Julian Assange. Not Susan Sarandon. Not Jill Stein. Not sexist Bernie bros or racist deplorables who don’t know what’s really good for them.
William, what’s the evidence that the Russians with the analytics that they stole from the DNC and their social media brain washing skills could not change 75K votes?
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/trump-camp-changed-strategy-after-russians-stole-dnc-analytics-1282344003844?playlist=associated
Sheila – Congratulate your son – it is a great app and I have been on the web since before it was public – I have seen junk and this is great
However, you might remind him that Myla Eldridge has replaced Beth White as Clerk of the Court (I wonder if he pulls that in from a public site – maybe it’s their mistake, not his). Every other official was spot on.
Jack Smith – Unless you are serving time, check with your county clerk. Laws vary by state, but I believe that in North Dakota, New Jersey, California and even Indiana, once you have served your time, your voting rights are restored. You do have to register again. They don’t like to tell you this fact and sometimes lie about it, but I have been explaining this to people here in Indiana for over a decade. Don’t let the **** cheat you out of your right to vote.
I’m not going to waste time with hypothetical and rhetorical questions. There is no proof Russians influenced the election. It’s conjecture. Rachel Maddow– in your link– admits “We Don’t Know.’ Your example is very similar to accusing GWB of collusion wrt 911, because his immediate response was to sit on his butt in a Florida classroom for 20 minutes after being informed of the attacks. Is it proof? Nope. There is no proof of any hacking of any voting machines. The Democrats ran a bad campaign with a lousy candidate. Blame everyone, but the candidate and the party. Keep alienating reasonable people with the Russian Conspiracy and it will be on you (conspiracy theorists) for the second term of Agent Orange. Hillary didn’t bother going to Michigan,Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. No matter how many times you stomp your feet and pout, that isn’t going to change what really happened. Evidently,the results are acceptable to the DNC and DCCC, because removing the EC isn’t on the agenda, nor is it among the agenda to go to paper balloting. You should be spending your time demanding of the DNC and DCCC to get behind the removal of the EC and to get on board wrt paper balloting. That will not happen,because to so would actually be demanding of some time,energy and thought. It’s easier to be lazy and keep on propagating a silly conspiracy. One that is going on two years old. You’re still working on election 2016. The world has moved on. It’s not my fault the party pundits cannot back their claims with tangible proof. Wishful thinking doesn’t cut it. The Democrats chose to lose with Hillary than to win with Bernard Sanders. They will lose again because they have not learned a thing. If anyone is looking to Robert (Iraq Has WMD’s) Mueller to be a comic-book superhero,you will be greatly disappointed. I really do believe whatever happens,the Democrats will blow it. nearly 2 years later,the party is still discombobulated and conducting election 2016.
William,
“I really do believe whatever happens,the Democrats will blow it. nearly 2 years later,the party is still discombobulated and conducting election 2016.”
Sorry to say, based on what I see at this point in time, you’re probably right. The Democratic Party leadership continues their attempt to CONNECT ALL THE DOTS without first COLLECTING ALL THE DOTS, which makes for an exceptionally, talented, group of NATURAL BORN LOSERS.
Think of casting votes for a candidate who does not deserve your vote as at least cancelling one vote the other side should not have received.
Winning, teamwork and fair and square competition are the sort of lessons much easier to teach as a coach of a team sport than any other way. I can think of no other way to instill the internalization of teamwork and the concept of results being more than the sum of parts. Other types of classes may be able to teach ABOUT those things, but only a shared and guided endeavor fought to the bitter end, even if it is merely a game, can INSTILL those characteristics.