Martin Luther King, Jr.

The US presidential election between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris takes place next week on November 5, but it could be several days before a winner is confirmed. Some 244 million Americans are eligible to vote in this year’s presidential race. Should voter participation match the record turnout of 67 per cent in 2020, about 162 million ballots will be cast across the 50 states.

As you know the battleground states will determine who reaches 270 electoral college votes to secure the White House. They have individual methods for counting, analysing and handling ballots. Consequently the different states’ rules on processing votes means it could take several days before Donald Trump or Kamala Harris is named president-elect.

Turnout

In New York, Democrats see glimmer of hope for the House races. Democrats have embraced tougher stances on issues that typically play among conservative and moderate voters, like immigration and crime, while still hammering away on abortion rights .In addition, party leaders have assembled a sophisticated new turnout operation. Many believe that getting out the youth vote will be most important in this tight election.

Indivisible is recruiting a swing-state army of progressives to turn out their neighbors to vote for Kamala Harris and down-ballot Democrats. With a program called Neighbor2Neighbor, Indivisible is mobilizing progressive volunteers to canvas where they live — and persuade neighbors who are like-minded, but infrequent-voters, to cast a ballot. Other national organizations in GOTV include Black Voters Matter, Vote Latino and APIA Vote.

The elections of 2018, 2020 and 2022 were three of the highest-turnout U.S. elections of their respective types in decades. About two-thirds (66%) of the voting-eligible population turned out for the 2020 presidential election – the highest rate for any national election since 1900. With one week until Election Day, more than 48 million ballots have been cast across 47 states and the District of Columbia.

Closing speeches

Kamala Harris
Protector of the Public Good

Vice President Kamala Harris’ Closing Argument Speech to American Voters. She explained she would govern with unity in mind, based on what she said was a “lifelong instinct to protect” people who had been abused or victimized. But she also used the arc of history to make her case, saying that the country was born “when we wrested freedom from a petty tyrant” and that, over centuries, Americans had fought threats both foreign and domestic to preserve the promise of democracy.

“What Donald Trump has never understood is that E pluribus unum, ‘out of many one,’ isn’t just a phrase on a $1 bill — it is a living truth about the heart of our nation, our democracy. It doesn’t require us to agree on everything,” Harris said. “We have to stop pointing fingers and start locking arms. It is time to turn the page on the drama and the conflict, the fear and division. It is time for a new generation of leadership in America.”

Trump
Fear and Hate

In Trump’s lead-up to the rally, social media was full of reminders that the American Nazi Party had held an infamous event in Madison Square Garden’s predecessor in 1939. The Trump rally lived up to that billing. It was a closing argument of unvarnished bigotry and hate, one that showed that the MAGA movement has become so much bigger than the man who founded it. Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden was a parade of foot soldiers in a hateful movement .

His rally highlighted crude and racist insults. He called Puerto Rico an “island of garbage” and disparaged Black Americans, Latinos and Jewish people. Trump made eight claims fact checked by PBS to further emphasize the lies the Republican Party is using to win the election.

Voting Information

The League of Women Voters have an excellent site, vote 411, that provides information state by state. This includes Voting by Mail applications and deadlines, Early Voting locations, and In Person Voting sites. Please forward ahead to friends and family.

NYC Votes is an additional site for New York City residents. It, too, provides information regarding your Early Voting site and hours, Election Day site and hours, in addition to Early Mail/Absentee Voting deadlines and applications. You can register to vote on this site, find your actual ballot, and determine who is running in your district.

Respond

Vote Remind friends and family members to do so as well. Share the voting information posted above.

Donate  Continue to support candidates who need your support from my last post You cannot be neutral. There are a multitude of fundraising drives. Act Blue is a portal for the Democratic Party.

Volunteer in a local campaign

Join National Networks whose focus is on electing local politicians by turning out the vote up to and including Election Day.
Indivisible

Next Post: The results.