Around the Bend in 80 Days

Please be sure to check your state's rules--many have changed--NOW before it's too late to cast your precious vote. Sure, I'd like to encourage everyone to vote for Dems up one side of the ballot and down the other, but the point is this: You have the right and the duty to have a say in the organization of your society, your government.

I cannot promise that your vote will be counted, but do not take that to mean that your vote doesn't count: In Colorado in 2008 President Obama won by an average of one vote per precinct. One vote. Your vote. It matters.

Get in touch with your county clerk and be sure you know how and where to cast your ballot. Here in our state, the Repugnantcan Secretary of misStatement decided that if you didn't vote in the midterm you don't need that mail-in ballot and maybe you should just be considered "inactive". Lovely. And a lot of Coloradans are unaware of the change.

Find out about ID requirements, changes of precinct hours/days/locations, and if you need to, re-register now before your local deadlines to do so occur. If your clerk has no website or you don't feel confident in their site, go to GottaVote.org or check in with your local party headquarters: they'll be glad to register you. It's easy, quick, and will give you peace of mind come November.

And watch out for shenanigans: false info in robocalls, business cards promising to register you online with the swipe of a barcode (full of lies and dirty tricks), last minute changes, and poll irregularities. Deal with an agency you know and trust, and demand your rights at the polls. If you're in line before the polls close, they have to let you vote. If they run out of ballots, they have to provide you with an acceptable substitute that they won't throw out on election night.

Educate yourself now so that you'll be prepared come Election Day. And remember who these characters are who are attempting to disenfranchise you whenever they come up for election again.

You never know when YOUR vote is that one per precinct game-changer.