Millennials become the largest eligible voting group in 2018. Young people are powerful, but the voting system is old and blatantly corrupt.
Our current voting system does not represent any voter the way it should in a true democracy, where everyone is equally represented with one vote.
There are big efforts attempting to make voting fairer. Most people don’t know about them and just feel discouraged, like their vote doesn’t count at all, and maybe never will.
But who does that mindset serve? Conservative politicians. It’s a fact:
When more people vote, Conservatives lose.
We care that conservatives lose because they tend to push agendas that benefit the wealthy and discriminate against LGBT, minorities, poor folks, and women. They also tend not to stand up for our environment or our rights. Their words say they ‘serve the public’, but most actions only serve 1% of Americans – the wealthiest.
So Bassnectar Labs is going to talk about voting a lot this year. Not just why it’s important to vote, but also *HOW* to protect our democracy and make sure YOUR VOTE COUNTS.
To kick off this mission, join our Propeller Campaign by completing an action to support or learn more about voting reform! You could win tickets plus a “meet-and-greet-and-discuss-life” with Bassnectar at Okeechobee.
Don’t want to join Propeller? There’s a roundup here too…
This is your 2018 Election Hopefulness cheat sheet. These are the things that keep us encouraged to vote, and motivated to stay in the larger game:
1. There are a lot of dumb rules, but people are working to change them.
Here are some of the insidiously undemocratic rules currently threatening your vote. If you don’t know about them, learn so that you can help fix these problems:
Selecting the lesser of two evils is no way to choose our leaders. That’s where the drive for Ranked Choice Voting comes in. Ranked choice lets you vote for your favorite first, then your next favorite, then your next favorite. If your top choice don’t receive enough votes, your vote still counts to the candidate that you ranked next best. This lets you choose who you really want to represent you, like a Bernie Sanders, without fear that Hillary Clinton will lose to Donald Trump.