Don't just vote today - be sure to contact your friends and family and make sure they vote too

[Chathamization]

And vote for the right people, particularly in races where that might not be clear to people (non-partisan positions, races between two Democrats or two independents, etc.). Also be sure to spread the message on social media. Reaching out to friends and family and spreading the message on social media doesn't take much time, but it has the potential to greatly increase the number of people who vote (and vote for good candidates).

[LWolf]

1. Because,

after a lifetime of respecting my family's intelligence, rights, and character, I'm suddenly supposed to show up and lecture them about whether or not they vote and how they vote.

No thanks. I trust my family, and if I treated friends like that, they wouldn't be friends for long.

Anyone who wanted to talk about their vote with me already has. Without being bullied into it.

[Chathamization]

2. Maybe all of your family and friends vote and know who to vote for. That's not the case for many,

many people. In fact, just about everyone I know, when I asked who they would be voting for, has responded by saying "I don't know, who do you think I should vote for?" Or they say they are kind of favoring one candidate in a high-level race, and know nothing about the many other races that are happening.

But yeah, maybe you have a highly unusual situation where all the people you know are well informed about the races, and don't know any of the 62% of Americans who didn't bother to show up next time around. In that case, good for you; but that's obviously not the case for the vast, vast majority of Americans. We should be encouraging people to vote, and to vote for good candidates.

[LWolf]

3. It's not "all the people I know."

It's my family.

Friends? As I already mentioned, if I tried to give them political lectures, patronizing "lessons," or bully them into something, they wouldn't be friends long, and for good reason. We're friends. If they needed my help, they ASKED for it.

Others that I know, that are neither friends nor family, but simple acquaintances? I generally conform to my childhood teachings: politics and religion are not on the table for casual conversation, and opinions are like assholes; everyone's got them, but it's a sign of respect to keep them in your pants unless asked about them.

Of course, I talked about the election with everyone who wanted to.