I had the pleasure of my listening ears being blessed with Stacy Abrams on the radio this morning who pleaded such a practical case of the importance of being counted with the Census Bureau and as well, did a great job of eradicating the fear and confusion of voting (absentee/mail-in voting vs. in person voting).
In short, she mentioned that, contrary to social media belief, mail-in voting right now is safe. In addition, she listed some websites where you can (and should) check to make sure you are all set and ready to vote (so as to not be turned away at the polls-or having sent in a ballot that won’t be counted—all because you did not verify that you are okay and cleared to vote).
To that, I wanted to interject: Don’t take advantage that just because you voted four years ago or in the primaries even as recent as this summer that all is well, still, CHECK YOUR STATUS. It is quite easy that some “we sent a notice to you” correspondence has been sent to you that you may have not gotten or ignored! To avoid that CHECK YOUR STATUS. Trust me, I experienced that at the 11th hour of voting personally before-and you do NOT have time to play this year…(I will
elaborate more on that in the last paragraph).
But back to what Stacy did. She provided a website that (regardless your U.S State) you can be directly linked to you state’s website to CHECK YOUR STATUS. It is:
As well, regarding the Census: GET COUNTED.
I will paraphrase it as best I can by saying that Stacy mentioned something that is crucial (especially to most Black and people of color)’s ears: Getting counted isn’t some government setup to spy on you and send Black Hawk down your way. Just remember that when you are sight seeing and window shopping other’s neighborhoods etc. know that THEY GOT COUNTED.
In Stacey’s words, the Census is about WHAT YOU NEED and they rely on you suffering the consequences of having a lack of resources do to your fears and being uniformed!
FYI: Cell phones, phones and utility services etc. already know where you can BE FOUND. The Census is not a spy tool! It’s a get you what you NEED tool! If you missed the doorknockers, you can go online to take care of this or call the number on the site to GET COUNTED:
She also mentioned two websites that I also jotted down:
Lasted, (regarding voting) I wanted to say this. Make sure you CHECK YOUR VOTING STATUS.
The election is Tuesday, November 2, 2020.
Any changes or corrections that you make with the Board of Elections has as max 30 DAY processing time.
So if you are going to be legit to vote on November 2, 2020, technically, you only have ‘til October 2, 2020 to TAKE CARE OF YOUR CIVIC DUTY BUSINESS.
DO IT TODAY, though.
Do not wait until the 11th hour of a “30 day process” and mess around and not be eligible to vote in the booth and instead-find out on voting day that you have to cast a “provisional ballot” that still, may not get counted. Don’t play yourself…
This aint the year for games.
