State of Michigan’s Post

Today is California’s Primary Election Day! Here are some helpful tips to ensure you are able to cast your ballot: ➡️ Polling locations are open from 7am-8pm today! Check out where you can vote in person: https://lnkd.in/exffWsp ➡️ If you are voting by mail, your ballot must be postmarked by 8pm today. ➡️ If you are dropping off your ballot, it must be dropped off no later than 8pm (when polls close). ➡️ If you are voting for the first time, you must show a valid ID such as a California Driver’s License, a California ID card, a U.S. passport, student ID, employee ID, or a recent utility bill. Here is a list of accepted IDs: https://lnkd.in/gYNJb5kZ ➡️ If you are voting in person, make sure you are in line no later than 8pm. Do not get out of line after 8pm otherwise, you will not be able to vote.

It's Election Month in California. I've loved being part of the team iterating on our flagship election service, Voter Game Plan, every election since I got to LAist , and this one is no exception! We re-upped our popular race-specific guides that go all the way down ballot and explain not just who the candidates are but what the offices they're running for actually are. But we've done a lot of work this election to support the type of voter who isn't going to spend hours researching their ballot, and might not care about voting in every race. In service of that, you'll notice that we've made the guides much more skimmable, with district "fast facts" and bulleted takes on the candidate's platform highlights. Brianna Lee also experimented with two new types of guides: 1. A series of issue-based guides that cater to a voter that knows what issues they care about and offers that as a jumping off point for making sense of everything they see on their ballot. We also turned these into a zine that will be distributed at public libraries and on community college campuses. 2. A guide that highlights the 4 races that most affect people's daily lives to help people prioritize their research if they know they don't have the time – or don't care enough – to research every race. (Links to both in the comments) Plus, the digital guide is just so much more dynamic than in the past, thanks to Erin Hauer's great work. I love how the redesigned landing page allows people to thumb through the FAQs and lets us have a little more fun with the language we use to describe everything that is on offer. Check it out at laist.com/vote.

In many places, early voting starts soon, and the years in between big national elections always worry me because voter turnout is lower. Despite the fact that many of us will not be voting on our reps in Washington, most of us have THE MOST IMPORTANT race on our ballots. Our local school board. School board members wield ENORMOUS amounts of power, and yet, only 5 - 10% of people vote in their local school board elections according to the National School Board Association. If you’ve ever claimed you care about teachers, how hard their job is, or have lamented the state of education in this country, I better see you at the polls, with your research in hand. If you know a kid, love a kid, have a kid, you better vote for your school board. If you care about where your tax dollars go, you should vote, as school board members across this country are responsible for doling out $600 BILLION dollars. If you ever learned how to read or do double-digit subtraction, you owe it to your former teachers to be at the polls. If you claim to care about equity or are an ally for any marginalized group, the bare minimum you can do is vote for candidates that will advance these causes. I don’t want to pretend that voting is an easy lift. It's not. Researching candidates takes time. Charlotte-Mecklenburg has 14 candidates running for three at-large spots. This is going to take me a couple of hours to wade through and make decisions, so I’ve blocked two hours on my calendar to research and finalize my decisions. Our teachers, their livelihoods, their working conditions, their happiness, and their ability to grow in their craft are worth my two hours. The 142,000 kids in CMS schools, many of whom can’t read on grade level, are worth my two hours. Ensuring the staff and students at schools feel safe and like they belong is worth my two hours. The future of my community, the state, and this country are worth my measly two hours. All of these are worth more than my two hours. Two hours is the least I can do. Please block your calendars now for election day (or an early voting day), check out your sample ballot to see how many races you have to consider, and then block off some time accordingly to get your ducks in a row. Our kids and teachers need you to care about this.

HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY KNOWS … THE U.S. IS ON THE BRINK OF DISASTER IN 2024. As the only college or university in America to ever host three consecutive nationally and globally televised "live" U.S. Presidential debates on campus (2008, 2012, and 2016), of course Hofstra University is an early-voting location for our forthcoming New York Primary on April 2nd, 2024. People have come to expect this kind of grass-roots involvement from Hofstra University and that's what America invariably gets. Because we at and from Hofstra know from experience that the inevitable face-off of Trump vs. Biden in 2024 is truly unique in U.S. history (for so many unprecedented reasons) and the stakes couldn't be higher, i.e., democracy vs. aristocracy. Moving forward or going backward is the question. More Hofstra 2024 news to follow in the remaining months ahead. 😎

My newest HCTU article is about the importance of voting on campus, even when you're far from home. Check it out!

As the presidential election cycle ramps up, The New York Times and Chalkbeat want to hear from you. How are your students thinking about this election? How are you planning to teach it? Share your insights. ⬇️

As the presidential election cycle ramps up, The New York Times and Chalkbeat want to hear from you. How are your students thinking about this election? How are you planning to teach it? Share your insights. ⬇️

As the presidential election cycle ramps up, The New York Times and Chalkbeat want to hear from you. How are your students thinking about this election? How are you planning to teach it? Share your insights. ⬇️

As the presidential election cycle ramps up, The New York Times and Chalkbeat want to hear from you. How are your students thinking about this election? How are you planning to teach it? Share your insights. ⬇️