Cartographer Philip Kearney has put together this map showing the scale of non-voting in the presidential election of 2016. In that election, the percent of Americans who could have voted but didn’t far exceeded the percentage of votes cast for either Trump or Clinton. Each grey county represents where the sentiment of apathy exceeded the votes cast for any one candidate.
Overall, according to a Knight Foundation report, Americans eligible to vote behaved this way in 2016:
41.3% Didn’t Vote 28.5% Voted for Clinton 27.3% Voted for Trump 02.9% Voted for Another Candidate
The inset on Kearney’s map shows that only in a few states did active sentiment for one candidate or the other truly prevail.
Image: from this source. Republished with permission.
I think of 2020 as “the year of everything,” when nearly every day brings news of something bizarre or extraordinary. Beginning with the impeachment and the pandemic, continuing on with the protests following the police killing of George Floyd, now with the unprecedented West Coast forest fires, historic events are reshaping US society. How peculiar that all this is happening while many of us are cooped up at home, with many of our normal channels for congregating, communicating, and witnessing closed.
How, though, will COVID affect the November election and the anti-Trump campaign? It’s possible that, even as the candidates themselves do less, stay-at-home conditions may foster an unprecedented political mobilization. For some of us, staying at home results in our having more time. Once we have figured out how to cast our own ballots safely, we have plenty of time to influence how one of our nation’s most crucial presidential contests turns out.
The Biden campaign can’t pivot quickly enough to come up with a brand new style of voter mobilization. That’s where new initiatives like The Last Weekends come in. The Last Weekends is a consortium of left-leaning and anti-Trump activist groups that in 2018 pioneered its signature approach to getting out the vote, mobilizing volunteers nationally to work together in concert on the last three weekends prior to Election Day. That year, voter enthusiasm helped turn the US House blue.
Now the group is back, with an impressive platform aimed squarely at dealing an electoral defeat to Trump and spineless Republican Senators. Visit the Last Weekends website to find location-specific ways to volunteer.
If you are a committed Democratic voter, you may also like the Swing Left website. There, enter your zip code to learn the most effective ways to volunteer / give during the 2020 campaign. Almost everything about Swing Left’s campaign, which includes hosted “events,” is virtual. Its focus is on a dozen or so “super states” that together will determine the outcome of the presidential election. Swing Left’s operations are compliant with the CDC’s COVID recommendations and prioritize personal safety and public health.
If you’re tired of Trump’s presidency, join the groundswell that will put Joe Biden in the White House. Don’t just stay at home, volunteer!
Image: Carol Highsmith, “Old voting house on the Johnston property, where everyone in Washington County would go to cast their votes during the early 1900s.” Leroy, Alabama. From this source.
Click on the image to go to NBC’s “Plan Your Vote” page.
NBC News has come out with a great interactive map that makes it easier for each of us to make a plan to vote. Voting procedures vary from state to state, but, by summarizing the answers to four time-sensitive questions, this map (which is actually 4 clickable maps) supplies nearly all the information voters need to commit to a workable, personal plan.
The map’s creators have done us a service by zeroing in on four crucial questions:
Can I vote by mail without an excuse?
Can I register to vote and cast my ballot on the same day?
Can I vote in person before Election Day?
After I vote by mail, can I track my ballot?
The different policies of the states with respect to these questions is somewhat shocking. Only some states allow mail-in voting without a reason, and a small number do not allow voting by mail merely on account of COVID-19. A handful of states still firmly in Trump’s column (such as South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana) have the most conservative policies.
Overall, though, I’m struck with how many states have greatly streamlined the voting process and made voting more convenient. (This goes hand in hand with enhanced election security in many states, a topic I hope to cover at a later date.) For example, over half the states offer a mail-in voting option with no strings attached (including several states which have gone over exclusively to mail-in voting). Several other states have recently modified their laws to accommodate voters’ legitimate fears over having to vote in person, while the risk of illness or death from COVID19 is still top of mind.
Only a minority of states allow residents to register and cast a ballot on the same day. As a prerequisite to voting, registration still demands that would-be voters think ahead and exercise initiative and responsibility. Happily, the NBC map includes a state-level voting guide with all the state-specific deadlines for registering in time.
The fourth question the map addresses (“After I vote by mail, can I track my ballot?”) may be decisive for many worried about the reliability of the Postal Service under the weasely Louis DeJoy. Most states offer tracking, so that you can be sure that your mail-in ballot arrived. Illinois doesn’t offer such a service, unfortunately.
It’s easier than ever to register to vote, with many states now offering online registration. Eligible residents who are not yet registered can do so from a computer or smart phone. Here are a few of the states’ online registration sites.
Whether Joe Biden or Donald Trump wins will depend on which candidate’s voters are more self-motivated and organized.
The COVID epidemic has disrupted normal society. It has displaced millions of people who have moved or altered their living arrangements to be safe, to care for loved ones, or because they’re suddenly out of work or their workplaces are closed. The risk of illness has estranged Americans from one another, making ritual gatherings, including all those associated with politics, rare.
COVID-related conditions have blunted every normal, in-person aspect of political campaigning. The conventions were virtual, rallies are extinct, and stumping, whether by the two candidates or state-level surrogates, must be so highly orchestrated as to sap its momentum and energy. The face-to-face aspect of American politics has been declining for decades in favor of electioneering that is more impersonal, media-driven, and premised on masses of sociological data. COVID has pushed those trends to almost pointless extremes.
At the same time, many of us crave a politics that is more immediate, local, and personal. Only by restoring honest personal discourse will Americans forge a new political consensus, and will a new generation of leaders be empowered to govern in a more accountable, forward-looking, and effectual way.
The temporary lull in national “retail” politics invites each of us ordinary voters to fashion personally appropriate ways to further the Biden cause.
All over the US, small grass-roots efforts are coalescing to get out the vote for BIDEN, to help people vote successfully during the pandemic, and to persuade inactive, new, or disaffected voters to “86 45” and make Joe Biden POTUS 46. One of my family members, for example, is active in the newly formed We of Action Virginia. Many other such local volunteer groups are loosely organized under Indivisible. Check out this map on the Indivisible website to find a local pro-Biden group near you.
I hope you will join me in committing to elect Biden on November 3. Please check back for American Inquiry‘s election count-down posts devoted to these themes.
Making a personal plan to vote, whether in person or by mail.
Voting in a timely fashion.
Lending your talents and influence to the campaign.
Deploying swag.
Considering who voted for Trump, and why they might switch.
“Each one, reach one:” personal GOTV efforts are the surest kind.
Aspiring to turn a pink county blue.
American Inquiry will disseminate information and materials in support of Biden. More soon.
